New Details Revealed As Tide Hoops Walk-On Sues New York Times For Defamation

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A defamation lawsuit has been filed by Alabama walk-on basketball player Kai Spears against the New York Times after the newspaper claimed he was present at a fatal shooting in January that grabbed national headlines.

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In the 22-page civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Northern District Court of Alabama's Western Division, West Virginia attorney Steve New and Tuscaloosa's Matt Glover — the legal counsel for Spears — reiterate the claim that their client was not present in the car of Brandon Miller during a Jan. 15 shootout on Grace Street that left 23-year-old Jamea Harris dead, while former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and his childhood friend Michael Davis were charged with capital murder.

Miller was parked at the scene during the shooting and his vehicle was struck twice, but he has not been charged in relation to the shooting and has reportedly cooperated with every phase of the investigation.

The two-count lawsuit alleges the New York Times is guilty of libel/defamation and false light/invasion of privacy.

Spears is a walk-on guard from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is listed as a sophomore on the 2023-24 men's basketball roster. He is the son of Marshall University athletic director

The attorneys for Spears are now seeking damages in excess of $75,000 after the New York Times failed to issue to a public retraction of the story.

TIMELINE

Attorneys for Spears say that following the Jan. 14 University of Alabama basketball game versus LSU, Spears met up with two friends who were in town visiting the weekend of the game.

Spears, at the time, lived in Bryant Hall in a four-person suite. The evening before the shooting, attorneys said the two friends planned to sleep on the couch and in the common area of the suite.

Attorneys claim the two friends picked up Spears to go to Waffle House the afternoon following the LSU game and went back to Bryant Hall to get ready to go out for the evening.

Later in the evening, Spears and his two friends went to The Strip, attorneys said, stopping at Houndstooth before meeting Alabama basketball star freshman Brandon Miller outside of the popular bar.

The group was then reportedly invited by Miller to eat at Moe's Original BBQ around 12:30 a.m. the morning of Jan. 15, but declined the invitation due to Spears' two friends having to leave early in the morning to head home.

Around 1:40 a.m. — roughly five minutes before the shooting that killed Jamea Harris, attorneys for Spears claim that UA basketball manager Cooper Lee was reported to have gotten into Miller's car, while Spears and his two friends returned to Bryant Hall.

The filing states that at 1:48 a.m., Spears placed a FaceTime call to Miller and Jaden Bradley to see where they ended up going. Spears said he was then informed that shots were fired through the windshield of Miller's car, but little else was known.

"Mr. Miller and Mr. Bradley were frantic and unsure what else may have transpired," the lawsuit states.

Spears and his two friends reportedly remained at Bryant Hall the rest of the night, with the Alabama walk-on contacting different individuals in the hopes of find out more about what happened.

New then said Cooper Lee contacted Spears so he could come to Bryant Hall and gather his thoughts, sometime after 2 a.m.

The following day, Spears went to the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit to be interviewed following the fatal shooting.

After investigators determined that Spears was not involved in the shooting in any way, he returned to his role with the team.

However, a New York Times story published on March 15 claimed that it was Spears who was in the vehicle with Miller at the time of the shooting — a notion his family immediately refuted.

The lawsuit then states that on March 15, Billy Witz of the New York Times approached Spears and asked him,“The night of the shooting, when you were in Brandon Miller’s car, were you scared when the shots were fired?”

After being taken aback and responding "no comment," Spears claimed the reporter continued to push the question, to which he again declined to comment.

"Including Spears, at least four Alabama players have now been placed at the scene of the shooting that took place in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, as bars emptied out along The Strip, a popular gathering spot for students near campus along University Boulevard in Tuscaloosa," the New York Times story reads.

Attorneys for Spears claim that later that night after the article's publication, Spears was inundated with texts, calls and mentions on social media claiming he was involved in the shooting.

"I have one thing to say — the report in the New York Times was 100% inaccurate and the writer had complete disregard for the truth," Spears said on his Instagram after the story was published. "I am trying to process and cope with these false statements that somehow have been published and then seen by so many."

After the family released statements denouncing the reporting, Spears, through his legal counsel, made a written demand that the New York Times publicly retract the story, which his attorneys claim the newspaper failed to do.

As part of the defamation and libel lawsuit, attorneys argued that the New York Times failed to use reasonable care in publishing and disseminating the untrue statements regarding Spears’ presence at a crime scene. As result, they claim their client was made the undue focus of public ridicule and contempt, with his own denial considered by many to be untrue.

New is asking the court to order the New York Times to pay compensatory and punitive damages, attorney's fees and an other relief deemed suitable by the court.

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