‘Wrong spot at the wrong time?’ Brandon Miller or the gun used to kill Jamea Harris?
“Wrong spot at the wrong time.” – Nate Oats, Alabama head basketball coach
Details are about as sketchy as this drawing. But the most glaring thing in the ‘wrong spot at the wrong time’ in Tuscaloosa on January 15 was the gun used to kill Jamea Jonae Harris.
The testimony came in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing for Darius Miles, 21, and Michael Davis, 20, both of whom are charged in the killing of Jamea Jonae Harris, 23.
Based on reports from law enforcement, Alabama’s star basketball player Brandon Miller didn’t kill Ms. Harris. But – unwittingly or not – he delivered the murder weapon.
Related: Nate Oats: Brandon Miller was in ‘wrong spot at wrong time’ night of Jamea Harris killing – al.com
Asked by AL.com why Miller was not charged, Tuscaloosa chief deputy D.A. Paula Whitley said, “That’s not a question I can answer. There’s nothing we could charge him with,’’ according to the law, she said.
Alabama coach Nate Oats said Tuesday that Miller is “not in any trouble” as a result of his alleged involvement.
This is such a sad, tragic story. Our hearts break for the victim, Jamea Jonea Harris. She leaves behind her mother, Annie Davis, and 5-year-old son, Kaine.
Relatd: Mother, 23, killed on Strip in Tuscaloosa was ‘beautiful young woman who loved her family’ – al.com
A GoFundMe to help Kaine has raised more than $9.000.
I hand the mic to my colleague Joseph Goodman. Here are excerpts from his column: Testimony about Brandon Miller complicates season for Alabama – al.com
It’s impossible to justify how any basketball player present in the shooting death of Jamea Harris remains on the team representing the University of Alabama.
That includes star basketball player Brandon Miller, unfortunately, no matter if he’s going to be charged by the Tuscaloosa district attorney or not. Initial testimonies in the capital murder trial for former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and his friend Michael Davis began on Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. Davis allegedly shot and killed Harris with Miles’ gun. According to testimony by law enforcement, it was Miller who retrieved the gun used in the alleged shooting, and it was Miller who transported the gun in his car.
Related: Darius Miles asked Brandon Miller to bring gun, police testify
Related: Nate Oats criticized for response to question about Brandon Miller
Testimony also placed another Alabama basketball player, Jaden Bradley, at the scene, but driving his own car, a Dodge Challenger.
These are shocking details to a high-profile case that will remain with Alabama basketball for the rest of this season and beyond. Alabama has the best basketball team in the country, and Miller is a player with the talent level of an NBA lottery pick. Those things do not matter one bit when weighed against the life of Harris, but they are relevant right now in every other way possible for the University of Alabama and Alabama coach Nate Oats.
Based on the testimony of law enforcement, Miller and Bradley of course can’t play for Alabama anymore. It all reeks of shame and disgrace. At some point, playing basketball for Alabama is no longer a privilege for those who make poor choices in life. The proximity of Miller and Bradley to the shooting death of Harris is well beyond that point.
A national spotlight of the worst kind is about to focus itself upon Oats, the University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa district attorney’s office. The words that Oats used on Tuesday to explain Miller’s proximity to the shooting are just not going to cut it, and maybe no one should speak anymore for the rest of the season if this is how Alabama is positioning itself for the NCAA Tournament.
Those are words that Oats never should have spoken.
Oats is a good coach. Understandably, he’s not trained to speak about capital murder trials. From now on, maybe he shouldn’t because saying things like “we’ve known the situation” and “wrong spot at wrong time” when compared to the testimony about Miller make it seem an awful lot like Oats and Alabama, uhh, you know … knew about the situation.
Here is full coverage of the case
Why did Miller bring a gun to a friend who was under the influence of alcohol? Why did Miller even go back out that night at all?
According to police, Davis retrieved what was believed to be the gun from Miller’s car and started shooting into the Jeep of Harris’ boyfriend. She was shot in the face. The dash cam of Miller’s car recorded some of the shooting. So did a nearby surveillance camera, according to police.
Read all of Goodman’s column here
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JD Crowe is the cartoonist for Alabama Media Group and AL.com. He won the RFK Human Rights Award for Editorial Cartoons in 2020. In 2018, he was awarded the Rex Babin Memorial Award for local and state cartoons by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. Follow JD on Facebook, Twitter @Crowejam and Instagram @JDCrowepix.
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