Brandon Miller, Jamea Harris, Darius Miles.Photo: Michael Chang/Getty; gofundme; Jonathan Bachman/Getty
Alabama’s star basketball playerBrandon Millerspoke to the media for the first time regarding the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
Miller, 20, told reporters the “whole situation is just really heartbreaking” on Wednesday.
“I never lose sight of the fact that a family has lost one of their loved ones that night,” Miller said before adding, “Respectfully, that’s all I’m going to be able to say on that.”
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Davis and Miles face capital murder charges, but Miller has not been charged with a crime as of Thursday. “There’s nothing we could charge him with,” Tuscaloosa deputy D.A. Paula Whitley toldAL.com.
Tuscaloosa Police detective Brandon Culpepper testified in court on Feb. 22 that Miller brought Miles' gun to him shortly before the shooting, after Miles had asked him to do so over text,Alabama Localreports.
The victim’s mother,DeCarla Cotton, told USA Todayshe feels strongly that Miller should not be allowed to continue with team activities. “It’s just unimaginable, and it’s like his life is just going on. He took a brief pause and it didn’t stop. It’s like, OK, slap on the wrist and go play ball.”
Cotton told the outlet that Alabama is “worried about his career,” referencing Miller’s potential on the court. “But what about this five-year-old boy?” Cotton said of Harris' son, Kaine. “He’s the true victim in all this. He won’t have a mother anymore to influence his growing up and who he’s going to be.”
David Jensen/Icon Sportswire via Getty
On Monday, the Southeastern Conferencenamed Miller the Player of the Yearand Freshman of the Year.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats recently addressed the allegations against his star player. Oats said, “nobody knew that was going to happen,” regarding the shooting. “Can’t control everything anybody does outside of practice,” he added. “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.”
Cotton refuted the coach’s statement, telling USA Today that having the gun involved at all led to her daughter’s murder. “When somebody says bring a gun to them, what do you think they’re going to do with it?' " she said. “And if there was no gun, she would not be dead.''
Oats subsequently released a statement saying, “In no way did I intend to downplay the seriousness of this situation or the tragedy of that night. My prayers continue to go out to Jamea Harris’s family.''
The coach’s statement did little for Harris' family, they said. “The retraction meant nothing to us,” Heard told USA Today. “Over this five-week period, he has made a habit of making reckless statements.” Heard said that Oats' statements were “not considering the victim in this whole thing, which is Jamea Harris.”
A GoFundMe pagehas been launched to support Harris' son, Kaine.
source: people.com
