Goodman: Murder and basketball
This is an opinion column.
_____________________
From the very beginning, prosecutors in the murder of Jamea Harris knew that they could get a conviction.
The evidence was simply overwhelming.
There were text messages. There were voice recordings from inside Brandon Miller’s automobile. There was surveillance video. There were witnesses. There was a murder weapon.
In the end, it was almost impossible for the state to lose its case.
Michael Davis, best friend of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, shot and killed Jamea Harris in the early morning hours of Jan.15, 2023. Miles supplied the gun for the slaying. They left the scene of a drunken altercation with Harris’ boyfriend, but then returned with Miles’ pistol.
“The heat is in the hat,” Miles said.
“Is there one in the head?” Davis said.
“You know it is,” Miles said.
Davis then shot and killed Jamea Harris.
A Tuscaloosa jury convicted him of capital murder. Davis got life without the chance of parole.
And now Miles’ turn with justice is next.
It was all so senseless, and avoidable. Why didn’t Davis and Miles just walk away? Instead, they called for Miles’ gun, which was in the backseat of Miller’s car. With guns at the scene, a night out with the team led to murder.
Alcohol and American gun culture, for Davis and Miles it was a deadly mix.
From the very beginning of the investigation into Harris’ death, I was left wondering why college athletes, flush with NIL cash and everything going for them, would so casually drive around with loaded guns. That might be our culture in America, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe and that doesn’t mean it can be allowed by athletic departments at our universities.
Carrying a gun might be a right, but playing on a team is not. It is a privilege and there are rules. Show up to practice early. Go to class. No loaded guns in cars. It’s not that difficult to understand.
Miles and Davis had been partying that night with members of the basketball team. Harris’ murder happened only a few hours after a 40-point victory by the No.4-ranked Alabama basketball team against rival LSU. How does bad go to worse? When Davis and Miles found themselves in a confrontation after a night of drinking, the best player in the country, Alabama’s superstar, Brandon Miller, a future NBA lottery pick, drove Miles’ gun to the scene of the crime upon Miles’ request.
I know I’m getting a little older, but is it normal these days to just leave loaded guns in the backseat of your friend’s car? No, it is not, or at least it shouldn’t be. But for Alabama’s basketball team, that was apparently no big deal.
Anyone who defended, or is still defending, the actions of Alabama’s basketball players that night, should be ashamed. Those people are part of the problem, too.
The stupidity test is pretty straightforward. Imagine you’re the parent of a child. Do you advise that child to drive guns to friends? Do you encourage your child to hang around people who might casually stash a gun in your backseat? No, of course not.
When athletes go to college, the coaches and administrators around those athletes tell the parents back home that they’re going to be like parents to those children. It’s in every recruiting pitch. It’s part of the culture.
The conviction of Davis of capital murder magnifies the errors in judgment made by coach Nate Oats, athletics director Greg Byrne and the University of Alabama. Two years ago, it all played out during the basketball season. It was ugly stuff, but that was Alabama’s choice when it made the decision to not only finish out the season, but do it with two of the players who were at the scene of the murder, Miller and Jaden Bradley.
And for what? Money? A conference tournament banner and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament? Those things are not worth the price of integrity. Miller drove the gun to the murder scene and didn’t even sit out a single game. He shouldn’t have been on the team.
At least Oats and Byrne learned from Miller’s mistake. Later that summer, an incoming Alabama basketball player was kicked off the team after Tuscaloosa police found a gun in his car.
For his role in the death of their daughter, the family of Jamea Harris later sued Miller in civil court. The parties settled instead of bringing the case to trial.
Miller is lucky he was never charged with a crime. At the time, Oats was quick to point out that Miller didn’t do anything wrong the night of Harris’ death. At some point as a coach and as a person, you have to ask what did anyone do right that night?
This isn’t over for Alabama, and what comes next will put the university in an uncomfortable position.
With Davis’ conviction, there is speculation that Miles could seek a plea deal. Perhaps there’s not enough evidence to convict him of capital murder, too. Maybe he will be found not guilty. To what degree is the former Alabama basketball player culpable in the capital murder of Harris? That’s for a jury to decide.
Could Miles have known that his friend was going to take the loaded gun, approach the Jeep containing Harris and her boyfriend and then fire rounds into the front seat? Davis’ attorneys unsuccessfully argued self defense, but Miles’ case could be different.
Know this much, though. No one wants to see a former University of Alabama basketball player on trial for a capital murder that happened after a basketball game. Justice for the life of Harris doesn’t end with Davis, says the prosecution, and Alabama is now asking itself how far this stain will run through the reputation of its university.
Alabama could have a basketball coach whose player was convicted of murder while on the team.
Should that be allowed by the university? Can that be allowed by any university?
All teams have rules. Some should be more obvious than others.
Like no guns and no murders.
BE HEARD
Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.
Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”