Alabama Basketball Student Manager Cooper Confirms He Was in Brandon Miller’s Car During Deadly Shooting
A student manager for the University of Alabama men’s basketball team said Friday he was in Brandon Miller’s car during the fatal shooting of Jamea Harris in January.
Cooper Lee told The New York Times that he got into Miller’s car at 1:40 a.m. Jan. 15, just minutes before Harris was shot and killed on the Strip in Tuscaloosa.
“I can confirm that I was the passenger in Brandon Miller’s car at the time of the shooting,” said Lee in an email sent to The Times. “Mr. Lee, who is not accused of wrongdoing, declined to comment further beyond confirming that Mr. Spears was not in the car,” The Times added in a follow-up story.
The initial report from The New York Times indicated that it was freshman walk-on Kai Spears who was in the vehicle with Miller. However, Spears denied his involvement in the entire situation and then sued The New York Times for failing to issue a retraction regarding their incorrect information. Lee acknowledged his own presence at the scene of the shooting in an email, confirming that it was him and not Spears who was in the vehicle.
A spokeswoman for The New York Times on Friday said the article would be corrected. ”We believe our original story was not accurate and plan to append an editor’s note to the story,” the Times’ spokeswoman said.
Court records stated Harris, a 23-year-old Birmingham mother, was in a Jeep when she was allegedly shot by Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Maryland, using a gun provided to him by former Tide basketball player Darius Miles, 21, who is facing capital murder charges in connection with the incident.
Miles pleaded not guilty. He is being held without bond; several of his former teammates attended his bond hearing late last month.
