Alabama’s freshman basketball standout Brandon Miller brought the gun used on the Tuscaloosa strip killing of a woman that led to capital murder charges for his now former teammate Darius Miles and 20-year-old Michael “Buzz” Davis, according to law enforcement testimony today.
Miles contacted Miller and asked him to bring his gun to where they were, according to police. The gun belonged to Miles.
When Miller got to the scene, Miles told Davis, “The heat is in the hat.” Det. Branden Culpepper said that meant a gun was present.
Miles added, “There’s one in the head.” That, Culpepper said, meant a round was in the chamber.
Miles moved his girlfriend back to get her out of line of fire, Culpepper added.
Miller’s windshield was struck twice by gunfire in the shooting, police testified. Another Alabama basketball player, Jaden Bradley, was also at the scene of the shooting, according to testimony.
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.
“We knew about that. Can’t control everything everybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out, Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time,” Oats said.
The testimony came in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing for Miles, 21, and Davis, 20, both of whom are charged in the Jan. 15 Tuscaloosa killing of Jamea Jonae Harris, 23.
The testimony lasted more than 2 1/2 hours before Tuscaloosa County District Judge Joanne Jannik.
Miles is represented by Mary Turner; Davis by John Robbins.
Both attorneys asked that their clients be released on bond. They claim their clients shot in self-defense.
Miles’ mother, Tracy Harris - a veteran police officer - and Davis’s mother, Annie Davis, both testified that they would make sure their sons would abide by all bond conditions and be present for future court hearings.
Miles and Davis have been best friends since middle school, according to Davis’s mother testimony.
The judge ruled there is enough evidence against Miles and Davis to send the case to the grand jury for indictment consideration. She also denied their request for bond.
Both Miles and Davis sobbed at the end of the court hearing. The two remain held without bond in the Tuscaloosa County Jail.
Harris, the mother of a young son, was in Tuscaloosa visiting her cousin and boyfriend for the weekend when she was shot in the early-morning hours.
Here is full coverage of the case
About 1:45 a.m. that Sunday, Tuscaloosa police and University of Alabama police were dispatched to the Walk of Champions at Bryant Denny Stadium on a shooting.
A Jeep had stopped there upon sighting a University of Alabama Police vehicle. Harris was dead inside the vehicle, said Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Capt. Jack Kennedy.
Harris’s boyfriend, who drove Harris from the shooting scene, told police their vehicle had been struck by gunfire.
He had returned fire in self-defense and may have struck a suspect – believed to be Davis.
Investigators determined that the shooting happened in the 400 Block of Grace Street off of University Boulevard.
Harris’s mother, DeCarla Heard, told AL.com the ordeal began with the suspects trying to talk to Harris, who told them she had a boyfriend and wasn’t interested.
Court records state Davis fired the deadly shots, and that Miles admitted to providing Davis with the gun.
It was announced the day before the fatal shooting that the junior forward was ruled out for the season due to an ankle injury. Following news of his arrest, it was announced that Miles was no longer on the team.
Testimony from today’s court hearing show all involved had gone to Twelve25 Sports Bar that night.
Miller dropped Miles off at the club but did not stay because the line was too long.
After leaving the club, Harris, her boyfriend, Cedric Johnson, and her first cousin, Asia Humphrey, stopped at a nearby grill to get something to eat.
It was then they encountered Davis, who was dancing in front Harris’s Jeep.
Johnson told Davis that his girlfriend was not interested and to move along. “It got a little elevated,’' the detective testified.
Culpepper said Davis said, “You don’t know who I am and what I do.’'
Miles and Davis walked away from the victim’s Jeep but later returned.
Two vehicles - a Dodge Charger and a Dodge Challenger that belonged to Miles’ teammates, Miller and Bradley - were blocking the road where the Jeep was parked.
Miles and Davis walked to Miller’s car and got something - believed to be the gun - out of the back seat. Culpepper said Miles had texted Miller saying, “I need my joint,” which is slang for a gun, police said.
Moments later, Culpepper testified, Davis approached the victims’ car and said, “I told you I was going to get you,’' and then began firing through the driver’s side window of the Jeep.
He fired at least eight shots, some of them while running in an arc from the driver’s side around the back of the vehicle.
It was then, the detective said, that Miller’s Charger was struck by two bullets.
Johnson, the victim’s boyfriend, returned fire, striking Davis in the shoulder.
Harris was struck in the left side of her face.
The victims drove to the Walk of Champions where they found a police officer and stopped. Harris was pronounced dead there.
Culpepper testified that shortly after the shooting, police received a 911 call from Miles.
He made the call from University Downs apartments and reported that his friend had been shot.
Miles told the dispatcher, and later police, that he was at the apartment when his friend - Davis - showed up with a gunshot wound.
Miles said he didn’t know where Davis was when he got shot or how it happened.
In later interviews, the detective said, Miles said he and his girlfriend picked Davis up downtown after he was shot.
Finally, Culpepper said, police told Miles that all of it was caught on surveillance video from the Houndstooth Bar and it was then he admitted to being there during the shooting.
Culpepper said some of what happened was captured on dash cam from Miller’s vehicle.
After learning that, he said, Miles admitted to contacting Miller to bring him his gun and said Davis had gotten the gun from Miller’s vehicle.
He also acknowledged moving his girlfriend out of the way before the shooting started.
Culpepper testified that Davis told investigators that he was drunk on Tito’s tequila and didn’t remember what happened.
Defense attorneys claimed that Miles and Davis could have been in fear.
They said they had seen a gun in the victims’ vehicle and noted that when they could have left the area before the shooting, they instead came back, turned off their vehicle lights and stopped.