Police in Tuscaloosa, Alabama have reported that Brandon Miller, a star basketball star at the University of Alabama, allegedly provided the gun used in the murder of Jamea Jonae Harris last month.
According to Tuscaloosa detective Branden Culpepper, Miller was contacted via text message by former teammate Darius Miles, one of two men charged with murder in the case, and was asked to bring the gun to Miles and Michael Lynn Davis.
On January 15, Harris, 23, was shot and killed near the university’s campus. Miles has since been removed from the Crimson Tide program and charged with capital murder, while Davis is also facing charges in the case.
Miller has not been charged, and the university’s head coach, Nate Oats, stated that the program had been aware of Miller’s alleged involvement in the case. Tuscaloosa chief deputy district attorney Paula Whitley said that there were no charges that could be filed against Miller.
During the incident, Harris was sitting in the passenger seat of a car in the Strip, a student-focused business district of bars and restaurants near campus, when she was struck by a bullet.
Harris’s mother, DeCarla Heard, told AL.com that the situation began with the suspects trying to engage Harris in conversation, but she declined, explaining that she had a boyfriend and was not interested.
Tuscaloosa County District Judge Joanne E. Jannik denied bond for Miles, and the case will be sent to a grand jury.
