Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles indicted on capital murder charges following the death of Jamea Jonae Harris
Former University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles was indicted for capital murder by a grand jury in Tuscaloosa County on Friday.
Miles and his friend Michael Lynn Davis have been charged with the murder of Jamea Jonae Harris on January 15 of this year. Neither party was granted bail and remains in the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
The two are expected to have separate trials and both cases were distributed to a grand jury after a preliminary hearing on February 21.
Davis is accused of shooting Harris while he was in a vehicle, which constitutes capital murder in Alabama. Miles admitted to giving Davis the gun and also faces a capital murder charge for “aiding and abetting” Davis in the shooting.
‘We are not surprised by the accusation. We expected it all along,’ Davis’ attorney, John Robbins, told ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill.
Former Alabama basketball star Darius Miles was indicted by a grand jury on Friday.
“We are pleased that the state has moved quickly on this matter so that we can get to court and bring this case to trial as quickly as possible before a jury.
“We are going to vigorously defend this case and defend my client’s right to protect himself when someone points a gun at him and shoots him.”
Court testimony details that on January 14, Miles, Davis and fellow Alabama basketball player Jaden Bradley were leaving the Twelve25 bar in downtown Tuscaloosa. Harris, his cousin Asia Humphrey and Harris’s boyfriend, Cedric Johnson, were also there.
A brief altercation ensued between Davis and Johnson when Davis began to dance next to Harris’s Jeep, at which point Miles tried to pull Davis out of the situation.
Miles later told investigators that he witnessed a gun being passed into the backseat, which Johnson later said was food.
It was after that altercation that Miles asked Alabama basketball player Brandon Miller to grab his gun. Miller arrived around 1:43 a.m., though it’s unclear if he saw Miles’ message.
After Miller arrived, Johnson drove Harris’s jeep behind Miller’s and Bradley’s cars. At that point, police say Davis and Miles searched the backseat of Miller’s car for Miles’s gun, with one of the two saying “the heat’s in the hat” and asking “is there one in the head?” , referring to a gun. present that it was loaded.
The couple are expected to stand trial separately in the trial for the murder of Jamea Jonae Harris.
Alabama forward Brandon Miller drove to meet Miles, and Miller’s attorney said he was unaware that the gun used in Harris’s death, property of Miles, was inside Miller’s car.
Davis then walked to the driver’s side door of the Jeep and shooting began, though it is unclear who fired the first shot.
According to video evidence viewed by ESPN, Davis is alleged to have started running and shooting towards the Jeep and into Miller’s windshield. Police say one of those shots killed Harris in the passenger seat.
According to Miller’s attorney, Jim Standridge, Miller was already on his way to pick up Miles when the message was sent and did not know if Miles’ gun was in the back seat, as it was hidden under his clothing.
Miller has not been charged with any crimes and Tuscaloosa Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley told AL.com there is nothing Miller can be charged with.