This is an opinion column:

Jamea Jonae Harris is gone. It seems important to mention that today. In the early morning hours of January 15th, a 23-year-old woman from Birmingham with a 5-year-old son lost her life senselessly in Tuscaloosa. She was shot to death in the heat of a moment that never should have happened but does, at different times and places, with sickening frequency.

The aftermath of her killing should be a daily, sober search for justice for her memory and her family. For the most part, common sense and decency ruled until Tuesday when Twitter lawyers and judges tried to turn a preliminary hearing in the case into a Supreme Court ruling.

With precious few facts in evidence, they spit out snap judgments – colored in some cases by their favorite school colors – damaged reputations and diminished the search for truth. Before a case had been constructed, they built a gallows.

Then came Wednesday. One day after one text message was painted as a damning indictment of one of the best players in college basketball, that player’s attorney released a two-page statement full of detail and context in support of his client.

While that is the job of a defense attorney, and Jim Standridge’s statement was not delivered in court under oath, its direct assertion that “all of the events described above are clearly captured on video” added gravity and sparked a question.