Judge denies bond for former Alabama player Darius Miles in capital murder case

A Tuscaloosa judge has denied bond for former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles in a capital murder case, it was reported Wednesday. Miles is accused of providing the gun used in the killing of 23-year-old Jamea Harris and has been jailed without bond since Jan. 15, 2023.

This is the third time a judge has denied bond for Miles on the case. A grand jury indicted both him and his friend Michael Davis, who allegedly pulled the trigger, on capital murder charges in March 2023.

Tuscaloosa Circuit Court judge Daniel F. Pruet also denied a a motion to suppress statements Miles made to law enforcement on Jan. 15, 2023. Another motion was filed Wednesday morning to strike some of Miles’ previous testimony that is still under consideration.

If that motion was granted, the court could also revisit the decision to allow Miles bond. His attorney, Mary Turner, said on Wednesday that Miles would be willing to wear an ankle monitor and be put on house arrest if he were granted bond.

Miles attorneys have continued to argue that he gave the gun to Davis as a means of protection after Cedric Johnson, the boyfriend of Harris, initiated the incident. The bond hearing Wednesday came after the state’s decision to no longer seek the death penalty in the case.

Background on arrest of Darius Miles

The incident occurred when police from Tuscaloosa as well as the University of Alabama were dispatched around 1:45 a.m. back in early January. They were sent to the Walk of Champions at Bryant-Denny Stadium. There they found 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris dead inside a vehicle, per Capt. Jack Kennedy of Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes, as they later deduced that the shooting had taken place off of University Boulevard.

The driver of the vehicle, who hasn’t been identified, told police their car was hit with gunshots. In turn, the driver returned fire in self-defense and notified authorities that he may have struck one of the shooters.

Kennedy went on to say that, through witnesses and surveillance tapes, they were able to identify the two suspects. Miles was one along with 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis. One of them was later confirmed to have been struck by one of the driver’s shots. His wound was deemed as non-life threatening.

As for a motive, Kennedy said it seemed that it was the product of an argument that took place between the group of four after they had come across each other on the strip.

Kennedy said his unit ‘utilized all their resources and worked together flawlessly to bring this case to a resolution in a rapid manner.’

On3’s Alex Weber contributed to this article.