Report: Judge denies motion to dismiss in New York Times defamation lawsuit filed by Alabama walk-on Kai Spears

Multiple lawsuits are ongoing following the January murder of Jamea Harris in Tuscaloosa, AL. One of them involves Alabama men’s basketball walk-on Kai Spears and the New York Times. At one point, the Times reported Spears was on the scene of the murder, with his attorneys arguing otherwise in a defamation case.

While the New York Times tried to get the case dismissed, that will reportedly not be happening. Ryan Phillips of the Tuscaloosa Patch says a judge has denied a motion to dismiss the case against the newspaper. Spears’ attorneys are seeking an “excess” of $75,000 in the lawsuit.

“United States District Judge Scott Coogler on Wednesday denied a motion by the New York Times to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against the newspaper by Alabama basketball walk-on Kai Spears after a story was published earlier this year claiming he was present at a fatal shooting in January that grabbed national headlines,” Phillips said.

“The news was confirmed to Tuscaloosa Patch on Wednesday by West Virginia attorney Stephen New, who is one of the attorneys representing Spears.”

Spears is still currently on the Alabama men’s basketball roster, who are in the midst of their 2023-2024 season. The original lawsuit against the New York Times was filed in May.

Wrongful death lawsuit filed against former Alabama star Brandon Miller

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against three men, including former Alabama star Brandon Miller, according to a report from ESPN.

The family of Jamea Jonae Harris has filed a suit against the three after Harris was killed in a shooting on Jan. 15, per the report.

The other two people named in the suit are Darius Miles and Michael Davis. Miles played for the Crimson Tide, alongside Miller, before he was removed from the team’s roster in January. Miles and Davis are facing capital murder charges for the death of Harris. Brandon Miller has not been charged with a crime.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama Western Division, according to the report from ESPN. It demands a jury trial to reward damages.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Decarla Raietta Heard, who is the mother of Harris.

The lawsuit alleges that Miles, Davis and Miller “knew or should have known that bringing a dangerous weapon to a dispute and discharging said weapon would likely result in harm,” per the ESPN report.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this report