Darius Miles reportedly exchanged gun used in fatal shooting while in Brandon Miller's car; Nate Oats issues statement
Darius Miles and Michael Davis are both currently being held at the Tuscaloosa County Jail after the fatal shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris on Jan. 15.
Miles was removed from the Alabama basketball team after his arrest and subsequent charge of capital murder.
On Tuesday, new details emerged involving Alabama star freshman Brandon Miller. Per Nick Kelly of the Tuscaloosa News, an investigator testified in court that Miles exchanged the gun used in the shooting while riding in the back of Miller’s vehicle:
New details have emerged in the Darius Miles case. An investigator testified in court today that Miles gave Michael Davis the gun while the two were in the back seat of Brandon Miller's car https://t.co/Z7ujZENVHp
— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) February 21, 2023
Per additional reporting from AL.com, Miller actually brought the gun to Miles:
Alabama’s freshman basketball standout Brandon Miller brought the gun used on the Tuscaloosa strip killing of a 23-year-old mother that led to capital murder charges for his now former teammate Darius Miles and 20-year-old Michael Davis, according to law enforcement testimony today.
Miles texted Miller to bring his gun to where they were, according to police.
When Miller got to the scene, Miles told Davis, “The heat is in the hat.” Det. Brandon Culpepper said that meant a gun was present.
Per AL.com’s Carol Robinson, freshman Jaden Bradley was also present on the night of the fatal shooting:
UA basketball standout Brandon Miller not only brought Miles” gun to the scene but his windshield was hit twice by gunfire. Player Jaden Bradley also was there that night https://t.co/5Je2BkNow4
— carol robinson (@RobinsonCarol) February 21, 2023
Alabama coach Nate Oats issued a statement on the new information, saying that Miller and the Crimson Tide have been cooperating with investigators and Miller hasn’t been charged with any crimes:
Alabama coach Nate Oats: "We've known the situation. We've been fully cooperating with law enforcement the entire time."
"Brandon hasn't been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble on this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time." https://t.co/4cCW5mtEJJ
— Nick Kelly (@_NickKelly) February 21, 2023
Per AL.com’s story, the Tuscaloosa police were asked why Miller wasn’t charged in the shooting:
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 with him according to the law.”
The Alabama men’s basketball team is set to take on South Carolina in Columbia on Wednesday night.
Not buying the whole “wrong spot at the wrong time” excuse from Oats. Miles texted Miller to bring his gun. Not a good look at all.
Being involved with the guys who committed the shooting can be a major legal problem even if you didn’t do the shooting yourself.
Brandon Miller could be charged a being “An accessory to murder” since he delivered the murder weapon. Lot of information yet to be released concerning this situation.
Has Miller been suspended yet? If not, then why? Surely they won’t play him tonight against SC.
Oats or the AD should have immediately announced he was suspended until things were sorted out. If Miller were allowed to play the national media will have a field day, and rightfully so.
This is just horrible… I think he didn’t know that the gun would be used this way and that it was a simple exchange. But thats just my opinion and could be totally wrong once more reports come out.
According to Tuscaloosa chief deputy D.A. Paula Whitley when Miller wasn’t charged, “That’s not a question I can answer. There’s nothing we could charge with him according to the law.”
The ? You should ask yourself is would the girl be dead if he hadn’t brought him the gun?
@Dawg A Legitimate question with no definitive answer. A reasonable person SHOULD conclude being asked to provide YOUR gun to another person is a risky endeavor. How does one know the intentions of a person in possession of YOUR weapon?
He will be charge with some crime related to this murder sooner or later betcha.
Or “he’s gonna be a really good basketball player and we already got 2, so we will give him athletic privilege” is what she meant.
This is possibly conspiracy to commit murder, but at a minimum, aiding and abetting a murder.
“Based on what we know, the declination by the Tuscaloosa DA is correct and Miller should not be charged,’’ said Jay Town, a former U.S. Attorney and prosecutor in Madison County. “It doesn’t appear evidence exists that Miller knew that transferring the firearm was for an unlawful purpose, hindsight notwithstanding.”
“Therefore, no (conspiracy or aiding and abetting) would apply,’’ Town added. “It doesn’t seem there is a federal theory of prosecution either,’’ under federal laws.
Yeah, Miller probably thought Miles and Davis were going coyote hunting……. Never in a million years would someone want handgun to shoot someone??? Miller may not be responsible by law, but his gun that he voluntarily gave to someone that night took a life of a young mother that night. Oates “wrong spot at wrong time”? Didn’t Miller bring the gun? Protect your star player at all cost, good message Oates.
It wasn’t Miller’s gun it was Miles’. He could have thought Miles was in danger, IDK. He’s a 20 year old who clearly wasn’t thinking except to respond to a friend’s text. It was a really dumb decision, but technically he did nothing illegal according to the law. Everything about the situation could have been avoided. It’ll definitely be a dark cloud over the team going forward.
You really are a POS if you are going to make this situation out to be just a dumb decision or that he was trying to protect a teammate. No way for Nate Oats, the university, or the fans to justify this. This team and program have serious cultural issues… but hey winning is winning and we know how you gumps are.
Nope. If Miles was in danger call the cops. Don’t take him a gun to shoot it out. But Miller knew that wasn’t why he wanted the gun.
No matter who’s gun it was, Miller provided the gun to the scene. If Miller believed Miles was in such danger, he must have known he could be walking into also.
“Walking into it also” but no biggie, bc he had a gun! Or Miller is the teams designated firearm deliverer.
It matters greatly who’s gun it was. That is why Miles is being charged with capital murder.
I was just explaining why Miller isn’t in any legal trouble and that all he really did was make a very dumb decision by answering his friend’s wish to bring him the gun. I don’t believe he had any intention of wrongdoing and thus is guilty of poor judgement. It was all a terribly tragic situation.
He transported a gun that was used in a murder. This wasn’t a dumb decision. Is this guy a puppet? He didn’t bother to ask why? Get real. Defending anything associated with this is a very bad look.
How naive do you think these kids are? Please quit defending this, you sound like the world’s biggest hypocrite.
And your wrong about the illegality of his actions. Accomplice criminal liability at a minimum. If there was a meeting of the minds (which we will never know unless the texts come out), its conspiracy to commit a murder.
I bet you now miles and the shooter wishes he had not brought them the gun.
All he did was bring the gun so they could use it to murder someone. Not a big deal right? Wrong spot at the wrong time????
Kids will be kids guys, what did you expect? Honestly, the fact that Miller was involved is extremely concerning but Oats response is even worse. Wrong place wrong time, can’t control kids shows a genuine lack of quality leadership or appreciation for the severity of the issues here.
Nate Oates presser was a disaster. He kept shrugging his shoulders as if it that would make it go away. Since then he’s released a statement “clarifying” what he meant to say at the presser. Any head coach at any university is a direct representative of that university and he appeared to not care about the seriousness of this situation. Oats failed in his job as a representative of the University of Alabama during that presser.
So the Bama player that brought the murder weapon and another Bama player that was there are still playing college basketball?? WTF man
Oats sounds like an idiot, he should have prepared something better than that.
If that is truly Nate Oats’ statement then Nate Oats is a mf sob.
Apparently Jamea Jonae was hurling racial slurs at the poor young men…. ncaa is working to get them cleared of all charges and regain immediate eligibility so they can work towards their dreams of winning a heisman trophy at Ohio State….
Unless you’re going hunting and your buddy forgot his instrument, if someone texts you to bring a gun, the answer should be “no”.
I feel bad for all involved.
It seems that Miller would have asked…Why do you need it ?
So…he was asked to bring a handgun to the strip after midnight. I’m sure he just thought they were going deer hunting. NOT!!!
Exactly, knowing Miller provided the gun that night that took a life and Oates acting like it was a bad coincidence…. Just wow!
If you are supplying the gun, then I would say you are the reason it became the wrong spot and the wrong time.
*helping supply the gun
Go back to law school, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer.
So is Alabama an open carry state for everyone? I can believe there isn’t a law against what Miller did. This assistant DA certainly isn’t looking very hard. I like Oats as a coach a lot, but his answers here are pretty pathetic.
If he’s legally allowed to possess a gun (not a felon), he can carry a gun in the car w/o a permit as long as it is securely locked in a compartment or container out of reach of anyone in the car. So if it was locked in the glovebox, console or trunk he would be fine. If not, he could be fined.
I don’t think that is the biggest point. What was Miller’s intent when he brought Miles the gun? Did he intend for Miles to murder someone? The proof is in any texts or phone calls.
You are free to speculate all you want I suppose, but the DA and police have already stated that they have reviewed Miller’s dash cam footage, video from a nearby bar, text messages from Miles to Miller, and witness testimony. After all of that, there was no indication that Miller did anything illegal and was thus not charged.
I’ll leave this here from today’s al dot com article:
“Based on what we know, the declination by the Tuscaloosa DA is correct and Miller should not be charged,’’ said Jay Town, a former U.S. Attorney and prosecutor in Madison County. “It doesn’t appear evidence exists that Miller knew that transferring the firearm was for an unlawful purpose, hindsight notwithstanding.”
“Therefore, no (conspiracy or aiding and abetting) would apply,’’ Town added. “It doesn’t seem there is a federal theory of prosecution either,’’ under federal laws.
Nate Oats is a clown.
He’s way worse than that. This is disappointing and tragic on so many levels.
You tell em, GI Joke!
Ok. So I hurt your feelings again and you’re going to troll me. Nice. You do you.
National media is all over this now. Definitely will be more fallout.
The AD needs to get with Oats on his lamé comments.
You can take the kid out of the ghetto but you can’t take the ghetto out if the kid.
Coach should be fired, as of yesterday. Using the phrase “wrong place, wrong time” to excuse a player actions that leads to murder, should be fired immediately.
Bama fans trying advanced yoga to twist themselves up in knots to excuse this. Only a moron would bring a gun to someone in the middle of the night without thinking something bad was about to happen.
Since it’s Alabama then he probably is that dumb.
He’s party to a murder…he literally brought the murder weapon.
Roll Tide
“Technical” aspects of the law aside, the look for the university has been shaded. Until this issue is thoroughly confronted and dealt with with no look of whitewashing, it’ll be a hay-day for opposing coaches in recruiting. From my understanding UA prides itself on a totally above-board reputation, but the handling of this incident has a certain odor to it, to this point.
It’s not what you think or even know, it’s what can you prove. No charges means they can’t prove he had any intent of a murder in bringing the gun. I go with the Lonesome Dove statement to Cowboy Jake, “When you run with outlaws, you die with outlaws.