Darius Miles claims innocence in murder charges, lawyer says

Over the weekend, Alabama Men’s Basketball player Darius Miles was dismissed from the team after being charged with capital murder for the deadly shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris. Miles was arrested shortly after the incident along with another man and both were charged and taken to jail.

Monday morning, Miles’ team of lawyers released a statement on his and his family’s behalf:

“Darius Miles and his family are heartbroken tonight over the death of Jamea Jonae Harris,” Miles team of lawyers released in a statement. They also released this update from Miles himself:

“While Darius has been accused of being involved with this tragedy, he maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court.”

Capital murder is a charge that carries severe consequences. If Miles is convicted on capital murder, in the state of Alabama, he faces the possibility of life in prison without parole or even the death penalty.

Capital murder is only charged in situations with special circumstances. In this case, the charge rose to that level because of a law in Alabama that allows for capital murder to be charged if the murder is “committed by or though the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle” — according to Alabama Criminal Code Title 13A-5-40.

If Miles follows through on his claims of innocence and goes to trial for capital murder, the death penalty or life without parole are very possible if he’s ultimately convicted. Often times, though, defendants charged with capital murder are able to enter a plea deal for a lesser charge that doesn’t carry as harsh of punishments. But that’s only possible if Miles does not claim innocence and instead pleads guilty.

Background on Darius Miles arrest

To start, police from Tuscaloosa as well as the University of Alabama were dispatched around 1:45 a.m.. 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.’