Ex-Alabama player Darius Miles indicted on capital murder charges

Last updated: 2023/03/10 at 9:29 PM

BigP Published March 10, 2023

Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles has been indicted by a grand jury on capital murder charges for the January shooting death of a 23-year-old woman near campus, his lawyer confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.

Michael Davis, who is also charged in the shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris, was also indicted, defense lawyer Mary Turner told the AP. Turner only represents Miles.

Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb told AL.com that the indictments against Miles and Davis, who’ve been held without bond since their arrest, were issued on Wednesday.

Harris was sitting in a car when she was struck by a bullet. A police investigator testified last month that Miles provided the handgun Davis allegedly used in the shooting.

During a court hearing last month, Turner suggested Miles was in a defensive posture when he told Davis where the gun was located.

The Turner Law Group, which is representing Miles, issued a statement Friday, saying they were disappointed by the decision to pursue capital murder charges “considering the evidence uncovered during our investigation and the obvious weaknesses in the government’s case brought to light during the preliminary hearing.”

Miles was a reserve on the Crimson Tide but an ankle injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. After he was charged in January, Alabama said he was “removed from campus” and the team.

During the February court hearing, Tuscaloosa Police investigator Branden Culpepper testified that Miles texted Tide freshman basketball star Brandon Miller to bring him his gun. Police have said another player, guard Jaden Bradley, also was at the scene.

Neither Miller nor Bradley have been charged with anything. Both have continued to play as the No. 4 team in the country makes its way through the Southeastern Conference Tournament and will likely have good seeding in the NCAA Tournament.

“This whole situation is just really heartbreaking, but respectfully that’s all I’m going to be able to say on that,” Miller told reporters Wednesday in his first public comments about the case.

Harris’ mother told reporters last month that she is frustrated by the focus on basketball instead of her daughter’s death. She said her daughter was a beautiful person who was trying to have a night out with friends when she was killed.

“She has a five-year-old son that is still waiting for his mother to come home,” DeCarla Heard told reporters. “I want justice for my grandson.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.