Ex-Alabama Player Darius Miles Stays In Jail On Murder Charge As Immunity Hearing Delayed Amid Weak Self-Defense Plea

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama - The narrative for months around Tuscaloosa after Jamea Jonae Harris was murdered near the Alabama campus last Jan. 15 was that former Crimson Tide basketball player Darius Miles was going to walk.

Miles' gun was used by his friend Michael Lynn Davis to allegedly shoot Harris, 23, to death after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, as she sat in a vehicle with her boyfriend, Cedric Johnson, on the Alabama Strip. That is a stretch of bars and restaurants near the Alabama campus. Davis was interested in Harris, but she wasn't, which led to the shooting, Tuscaloosa Police said.

Darius Miles' Gun Used To Kill Jamae Jonea Harris

Former Alabama basketball star player Brandon Miller drove Miles's gun to him after 1 a.m. because Miles had left it in Miller's car and texted Miller to bring it to him. Because apparently something was about to go down.

Miller delivered the gun. Miles gave the gun to Davis, who immediately started shooting after getting it. Johnson shot back before fleeing the scene with the dying Harris, according to police. He stopped for help when he saw a policeman at the Walk Of Champions entrance to Bryant-Denny Stadium, but it was too late.

Jamea Jonae Harris was pronounced dead there.

Michael Lynn Davis, left, and Darius Miles were each charged with capital murder for the death of Jamea Jonae Harris near the University of Alabama campus on Jan. 15. (Getty Images).

Video 'Evidence' Revealed

Miles and Davis were both charged with capital murder and have remained in jail since Jan. 15 - Miles as the accomplice, Davis as the shooter, allegedly. Police questioned Miller initially but never charged him despite his role of delivering the murder weapon. The Charlotte Hornets made him the second pick of the NBA Draft last June, and he signed a four-year, $41 million contract.

Video "evidence" came out in March that Miles' defense team felt confident would get their client's case dismissed on self-defense because of the state's Stand Your Ground laws.

The Patch.com website, which covers news in the state of Alabama, went as far as to say in a story on March 18 that "videos reveal weaknesses in the prosecution's case against the two men."

Other media outlets and radio shows in Alabama trumpeted the Patch.com story and certain videos as victory for the Tide.

Jamea Jonae Harris was shot to death at an Alabama campus on Jan. 15. (Getty Images).

But Miles remains in jail. So does Davis. The two cases are being treated separately.

So many thought Miles would be out before summer. Yet, on May 24, Tuscaloosa County Circuit court judge Daniel F. Pruet denied bail after an impassioned self-defense plea by lead attorney Mary Turner.

Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa County assistant district attorney Paula Whitley simply said, "Miles moved his girlfriend and another individual away from the scene before the shooting. Miles provided a loaded gun to Davis, a person who was supposedly one of his closest friends. Jamea Harris was a mother, a daughter, a girlfriend, a special young lady whose future is wiped out."

Miles moving people out of the way hurts the "self-defense" argument and paints him as likely knowing what Davis was about to do.

OPINION: DARIUS MILES ACTED IN SELF-DEFENSE? REALLY?

Still, Miles was granted a preliminary immunity hearing for Monday and Tuesday of this week in which Turner and her team could try again to prove self-defense. And if that worked, his case would be dropped. If not, the case would proceed to trial unless a plea bargain stopped that.

It didn't work Tuesday. Turner repeatedly struggled with star witness Shu'Bonte Greene, asking the same questions repeatedly but not getting the answers she wanted.

Greene was declared a hostile witness as police had to put out a warrant for his arrest and pick him up to be at the hearing Tuesday. He didn't show on Monday after receiving a subpoena. Greene is a friend of Harris' boyfriend and was a friend of Harris. Greene was at the scene on Jan. 15. So was Jack Thompson, another friend of Greene and Harris. And Turner believes a video shows Thompson getting a shotgun out of Greene's car that night.

Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles in action against Memphis in December of 2022. He was kicked off the team last January after being charged with capital murder. (Photo by Brandon Sumrall/Getty Images)

Turner believes Greene, Johnson and Thompson were planning an attack on Miles and Davis, which supports her self-defense argument for Miles.

But Greene's testimony was not convincing for that argument.

"I didn't know he (Thompson) had a gun," Greene told Turner. "I didn't see a gun."

But Turner kept asking and asking the same question.

Finally, Pruet interrupted before the prosecution attorneys could object again.

Judge Criticizes Defense Attorney In Alabama Case

"At least three times, he said he did not see a gun," he told Turner.

Finally, Pruet had seen enough. This was no star witness for Turner's case. But Greene's testimony showed Pruet something. They were not getting anywhere.

"Obviously, there are more witnesses needed," he said. "This is not complete."

Because Turner was getting nowhere with this one.

"We're adjourning," Pruet said.

Turner and Miles are fortunate that Pruet did not close the case and bring on the real trial or a possible plea deal. Instead, he is giving the defense the opportunity to locate a key witness - Cedric Johnson, who the authorities have not been able to find to provide him with a subpoena to testify. But how much time does the defense team need? Turner and company have had months to locate him.

Pruet will allow the immunity hearing to continue at a date to be determined, likely in September and possibly Sept. 29, because of witness issues.

Darius Miles' Defense Team Gets Yet Another Chance

"So, there is a date in the future for us to come back, reconvene and for the defense to finish putting on their case," Tuscaloosa County District Attorney Hays Webb told OutKick as he waited to enter the elevator after leaving the courtroom.

"That's our expectation," Webb said when asked if he expected more witness testimony from the defense.

The defense is clearly not rested, nor is it very organized.

Webb was being nice when he said these key words: "for the defense to finish putting on their case."

Pruet is being nice, too. He is giving the defense yet another chance to do its job and find a case for Darius Miles because it doesn't appear that it has one.