Should Brandon Miller Be Suspended?
New details came out regarding the circumstances surrounding the tragic shooting death of Jamea Jonae Harris on Jan 15 just off Tuscaloosa's strip in a preliminary hearing Tuesday to determine whether Darius Miles or his co-defendant Michael Lynn Davis would receive bond.
The shooting followed an altercation between two groups of people on the Strip after the Tide's dominant victory over LSU in Coleman Coliseum.
It has been known for a while that superstar Brandon Miller was involved in the tragedy in some capacity, but testimony from Tuscaloosa VCU investigator Brandon Culpepper painted a portrait that was rather damning for Miller, Nate Oats, and the university as a whole during the bond hearing.
Allegedly, Miller dropped Miles and Davis off at Twelve25, but opted to leave after seeing how long the line was. Reportedly, Miles left his .40 caliber handgun in Miller's car and asked him to return it to him later in the evening.
Per a report from AL.com's Carol Robinson, Miller obliged. In the process, Miller parked his car in such a manner that blocked the Jeep occupied by Harris in. In fairness to Miller, Grace Street is extremely narrow and simply parking on it at all could prevent someone from being able to maneuver their car out of its parking space.
Just a few short minutes later, Davis had retrieved Miles' gun from the vehicle and fired eight shots into Harris' vehicle, striking her in the face. By the time the Jeep had fled the scene and arrived at Bryant-Denny Stadium for police assistance, Harris was dead.
The fact that Miller was this involved with the tragedy and hasn't been suspended, punished, or in some way faced any consequences is a disgrace to the University of Alabama, its athletics department, and its fans.
Is it fair to say the Miller was simply returning Miles' property to him? Yes. Is it fair to say that Miller placed his trust in his older teammate who should never have opened the door for him to be involved in this? Yes.
However, at the end of the day, Miller is his own man. He can and does make his own decisions. He could have told Miles to simply leave whatever situation made him feel that he needed his gun. He could have just come and picked Miles and Davis up and removed them from the scene himself. Instead, he chose to do the thing that allowed the most room for nefarious activities: he delivered a loaded a firearm to someone who had been in a club, presumably consuming alcohol.
Unlike what Oats said on Tuesday, that is the furthest thing from "wrong place, wrong time."
A young woman is dead. A five-year-old boy is motherless. Countless students in the densely populated portion of The Strip this occurred in were put in danger by the multitude of bullets fired.
Should someone who contributed to those events being set into motion be allowed to don the Crimson and White and play basketball?
I, for one, do not think so.
The opinions presented in this piece are solely those of author Aidan Dollins.