Parents Of Shooting Victim Blast University of Alabama For Allowing Star To Continue Playing
AP Photo/Sean Rayford
The parents of Jamea Harris, who was killed near the University of Alabama’s campus, blasted the school and head basketball coach Nate Oats for allowing star Brandon Miller to continue to play.
Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and Michael Lynn Davis were charged with capital murder after they allegedly shot at a car that Harris was in near campus — killing her.
On Tuesday, police told an Alabama grand jury that Miller supplied the gun for the deadly shooting after being summoned to the eventual crime scene by Miles — who asked him to bring the weapon.
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Oates gave a remarkably tone-deaf reason as to why Miller was still with the team.
“We knew about that,” Oats said. “Can’t control everything everybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen. College kids are out; Brandon hasn’t been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble in this case. Wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Wednesday night, Oats backtracked on his comments from the day prior, even though Miller played in that night’s game against South Carolina.
“I’m not here to make excuses, but I want to make it clear, I didn’t have the details from the hearing that morning since I was coming straight from practice. And I used a poor choice of words making it appear like I wasn’t taking this tragic situation seriously, which we have throughout the course of it,” Oats said.
On Thursday, Harris’ parents spoke with USA Today Sports after they heard the head coach’s comments, and voiced their anger that Miller played in the game against South Carolina on Wednesday.
“It’s just unimaginable,” Harris’ mother DeCarla Cotton, said. “He took a brief pause, and it didn’t stop. It’s like, ok, slap on the wrist and go play ball.”
“They’re worried about his career, but what about this this 5-year-old boy (Harris’ son, Kaine). He’s the true victim in all this. He won’t have a mother anymore to influence his growing up and who he’s going to be,” Cotton said.
ESPN ranks Miller as a top 5 pick for the 2023 NBA Draft in June, and Harris’ mother explained that Miller should have known better than to bring the firearm to Miles.
“When somebody says bring a gun to them, what do you think they’re going to do with it?” Cotton said. “And if there was no gun, she would not be dead.”
A lawyer representing Miller said the star basketball player never touched the gun and did not see the weapon.
Harris’ stepfather, Delvin Heard, ripped Oats for his original comments from Tuesday’s press conference and said he did not want to hear the words the Alabama head coach had to say on Wednesday night.
“The retraction meant nothing to us because, over this five-week period, he has made a habit of making reckless statements. When I say reckless, I mean statements not considering to the victim in this whole thing, which is Jamea Harris,” Heard said.
