Alabama forward Darius Miles looks set to make it through March 5 in the second half of the NCAA collegiate basketball game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert/AP
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Gerald Herbert/AP
Alabama forward Darius Miles looks set to make it through March 5 in the second half of the NCAA collegiate basketball game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
Gerald Herbert/AP
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with murder following a fatal shooting near campus.
Tuscaloosa Police Captain Jack Kennedy said the shooting happened early Sunday morning at the Strip off University Blvd. near campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23, of Birmingham was shot dead.
Miles, 21, a junior reserve striker from Washington, DC, and Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland, have both been charged with murder. Kennedy said the murder charge originally arose because the death involved shooting a vehicle.
“At this point, it appears that the sole motive is a small altercation that these individuals had with the victim while they were out on The Strip,” Kennedy said at a press conference Sunday night. They had no previous relationship, he said.
He said the driver of another vehicle, of which Harris was a passenger, went to campus police near Bryant-Denny Stadium around 1:45 a.m. and said someone had shot at the vehicle, and he shot back. One of the suspects was treated for a non-life-threatening injury at a local hospital, and Kennedy declined to say who opened fire or who was injured.
Miles emotionally told someone as he was taken into a law enforcement vehicle: “I swear I love you more than you can imagine.”
Miles was a substitute on the fourth-placed Crimson Tide team. Alabama announced before the game against LSU on Saturday that he would be out for the full season with an ankle injury. His bio was removed from the sports department’s website, and the university said he was “removed from campus” and is no longer on the team.
“The University of Alabama’s top priority is the safety and well-being of the campus community,” a university statement said. “We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred near campus last night and offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victim.”
Kennedy said neither the driver of the other vehicle, Harris nor Davis appeared to be affiliated with the university.
