New Bond Hearing For Darius Miles Set For May

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet has set May 24 at 9 a.m. as the date for a new bond hearing for former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and Michael Davis, who are charged with capital murder in the Jan. 15 shooting death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris.

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Miles and Davis, his childhood friend from Maryland, were both arrested and charged with capital murder in the hours after a gunfight on Grace Street near The Strip.

Harris — a Birmingham native and mother — was killed during the exchange between Davis and Harris' boyfriend Cedric Johnson. The two men, as we've previously reported, engaged in a minor verbal altercation during an exchange on The Strip shortly before the shooting.

Security camera footage recently viewed by Patch alleges to show Davis run up to the side of the Jeep after it is seen without its lights on, pulling up behind Alabama forward Brandon Miller's Dodge Charger on Grace Street just before 1:45 a.m.

This comes after the Jeep appears to circle the block, while the group consisting of Miles, Davis and others break up an unrelated fight near CVS.

ALSO READ: Bama Basketball Shooting: Understanding State's Self-Defense Laws

Once alongside the Jeep, Davis and Johnson exchange gunfire, before Harris is struck and killed instantly. As the details of the case come into clearer focuses, it appears both sides are likely to argue self-defense.

If self-defense can be proven for Davis, it would relieve Miles of any liability for his gun being used in the shooting. However, if it can be proven Johnson acted in self-defense, then Davis and Miles could be convicted on their charges.

As Patch previously reported, both sides in the case are gearing up for an immunity hearing at a later date that will see Judge Pruet consider evidence and determine if there is enough available to conclusively prove if either of the men acted in self-defense during the shooting.

If Pruet does not determine there to be enough evidence to rule one way or the other on self-defense, the matter will move to a jury trial.

The evidence against Miles in this case hinges on his legally owned .40 caliber handgun being used in the shooting, along with his text message to Miller asking him to bring him his gun in the minutes ahead of the shooting and supposedly lying to investigators during the initial 911 call regarding how Davis had been shot.

Mary Turner, of the Turner Law Group, is representing Miles and has argued extensively that her client feared for his safety and that of others after claiming to see a handgun passed to Johnson in the back seat during the verbal altercation on The Strip. Miles told investigators this exchange prompted him to text Miller and ask for his gun.

After their arrests, Miles and Davis were subsequently denied bond by District Court Judge Joanne Jannik and indicted on the capital murder charges.

For the new bond hearing, Turner points out that Miles has no prior criminal record, is not a believed to be a flight risk and would submit to monitoring by Tuscaloosa Community Corrections.

Miles, who has family living in the surrounding county, would also be subject to a curfew.

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