OAN Roy Francis
UPDATED 12:43 AM PT – Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another suspect have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near the University of Alabama campus.
The shooting took place early Sunday morning on the Strip on University Boulevard near campus. Tuscaloosa Police Captain Jack Kennedy said that 23-year-old Jamea Harris was shot and killed.
Miles, 21, who is a reserve forward from Washington D.C. has been charged with capital murder along with Michael Lynn Davis.
“At this time, it appears that the only motive was a minor altercation that these individuals had with the victim as they were out on The Strip.” Captain Kennedy said.
The captain went on to explain that the driver of another vehicle, in which Harris was a passenger, approached campus police at about 1:45 a.m. saying that someone had shot into the vehicle and he had fired back.
The driver of the vehicle had been Harris’s boyfriend explained her mother, DeCarla Cotton.
Cotton said that Harris and her boyfriend had driven from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa to visit her cousin, who is a student at the University of Alabama. The three of them were getting something to eat after a night out when a man had approached her.
“He was advancing on her and she declined his attention. He refused to go away.” Cotton said. “While they were attempting to leave, one gentleman walked up to the car and started shooting.”
Harris’ boyfriend had shot back and wounded one of the suspects, who had later gone to a local hospital. Police were able to connect him to the shooting from the hospital.
Authorities did not clarify who allegedly shot into the car, and which one is injured, but they are holding both suspects without bond.
“She wasn’t a troublemaker,” Cotton said describing her daughter. “She was a hardworking mother who got up every day to take care of her son.”
Harris’ 5-year-old son is now staying with Cotton.
Miles’ attorneys said that Miles and his family are “heartbroken” over the death of Harris, but that “he maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court.”
Miles is a junior at the university, and was in the midst of playing his third season as a forward for the Alabama Crimson Tide before he was removed from the team on Sunday.
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