Relatives of Jones’ told NBC 12 on Monday that he had been hazed while at UVA. School officials confirmed an alleged hazing incident, according to CBS reporter Olivia Rinaldi, but witnesses at the time reportedly would not cooperate. A source who knows Jones but asked not to be named told The Daily Beast that he had “been bullied” at UVA, “and it was bad.”
In a 2018 article on Jones, the Richmond Times-Dispatch painted a picture of a difficult childhood characterized by “a fractured family, school fighting and suspensions.” Jones told the outlet that his father leaving when Jones was just five was “one of the most traumatic things that happened to me.” The piece added that Jones attended an alternative school where he was able to avoid bullying, and that he had moved in with his grandmother in Petersburg in 2016 after the relationship with his mother deteriorated. It also said that in the two years before he started at UVA, “mentors helped him let go of his anger.”