Darius Miles, a University of Alabama junior forward basketball player, along with one other suspect has officially been charged this past Sunday with capital murder in relation to a deadly shooting of a 23-year-old woman that was shot on the Strip in Tuscaloosa.
Miles had been placed on the injury list for the basketball season just a single day before the crime took place because of an injury to his ankle, explained a report from local media outlets. Just over 24 hours after that, police officials arrested the college athlete and quickly spirited him out to Tuscaloosa County Jail.
A recently published video was able to capture Miles, age 21, openly in tears during a perp walk, all while repeating “I love you” and “I love you more than you can imagine,” to some person situated just outside of the county jail.
20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis was charged, alongside miles, in the killing of Jamea Jonae Harris, which took place at roughly 1:45 a.m. local time Sunday morning, as reported by local media outlets.
Authorities were sent out to respond to a shooting that reportedly took place at the Walk of Champions at Bryant Denny Stadium.
Police forces for the University of Alabama spotted a parked vehicle where they discovered harris dead inside, explained Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Capt. Jack Kennedy to the outlet AL.com.
Authorities stated that the still unidentified driver in the car explained to police that the car had been hit by gunfire before shooting back in self-defense, which the driver thought could have hit the suspects.
Kennedy talked with a number of witnesses and went through video surveillance footage from the surrounding area, which helped in the identification of the two suspects.
Kennedy explained that the pair of suspects were brought in for interviews and it was found that one was sporting a gunshot wound which had been marked as a non-life-threatening wound.
“It appears at this time that the shooting was the result of a minor argument that occurred between the victims and suspects after they encountered each other along the strip,” AL.com was told by Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Capt. Jack Kennedy. “The member agencies of the Violent Crimes Unit utilized all their resources and worked together flawlessly to bring this case to a resolution in a rapid manner.”
The athletics department for the University of Alabama recently released a statement to AL.com in the wake of the announcement of Miles’s arrest, claiming that the officials for the university “were made aware of the recent charge against student-athlete Darius Miles; he has been removed from campus and is no longer a member of the Alabama men’s basketball team.”
“The University of Alabama’s utmost priority is the safety and well-being of the campus community,” stated the release, in part. “We are grieved by the incident that occurred near campus last night and extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends. We are grateful for the quick and thorough response of law enforcement and emergency response teams, and we will continue to fully support the ongoing investigation.”
“First and foremost, we extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the victim from last night’s incident,” explained Athletics officials for the University of Alabama.
The website for the Alabama athletics department has removed Miles’ profile after playing six season games before injuring his ankle.
