Alabama is grieving after a teammate was charged with murder

Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats said Monday the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide is going through “kind of a grieving process” after player Darius Miles and another man were charged with capital murder following a fatal shooting near campus.

Speaking at a news conference, Oats said he couldn’t discuss any specifics related to the case. He said he spoke with Miles’ mother multiple times Sunday, and met with the team that night.

“I thought it was important that we were all here and around to support one another through this situation,” Oats said.

Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy stated that the shooting took place early Sunday morning in the Strip, an area of student-oriented businesses near Tuscaloosa’s campus. Jamea Harris (23), from the Birmingham area, was also shot and killed.

Miles, 21-year-old, was a junior reserve forward in Washington, D.C., while Michael Lynn Davis, 20 years old, from Charles County, Maryland, was charged with capital murder. Kennedy stated that the capital murder charge was brought about by shots fired into a vehicle.

Oats said the team met again Monday and would practice later in the day before Tuesday’s game at Vanderbilt.

“They didn’t have too many questions,” Oats said of the players. “It’s really just more of kind of a grieving process. They are able to understand the gravity of Jamea’s situation. They also see the seriousness of the situation with Darius. There’s both sides of it, dealing with it.

“So yeah, it’s not something you go through often as a coach but I think we’ve got the services around the program to help us handle the situation.”

The university said in a statement Miles “has been removed from campus” and is no longer on the team.

Attorneys William White, Clayton Tartt and Suzanne Norman, from the the Birmingham-based Boles Holmes White law firm, issued a statement on behalf of Miles, saying he and his family “are heartbroken” over Harris’ death.

“While Darius has been accused of being involved with this tragedy, he maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court,” they said. “Our firm’s own investigation is ongoing, and no further statement will be made at this time.”

Kennedy stated that bail would not initially have been set in the case. Kennedy said that defense lawyers could request a probable case hearing at Tuscaloosa County District Court, and that a judge might consider bail later.

Miles appeared in six games this season, scoring 1.5 points per game. On Saturday, the team announced that Miles would be out of action for the rest of this season due to an ankle injury.

Miles had also missed some time in the past year due to what was described as a personal matter. Oats said Monday that Miles went back to Washington to deal with that issue but that it was “completely unrelated” to the weekend charges.

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This report was contributed by Jeff Amy, an Atlanta journalist of the Associated Press; and Kim Chandler, a Montgomery, Alabama reporter.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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