Nate Oats, the head men’s basketball coach for the second-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide, reportedly reached out to former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis for advice on how to handle a murder for which former Crimson Tide hoops player Darius Miles faces charges. The charges relate to the murder of Jamea Jonae Harris. Miles reportedly asked current Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller, a freshman, to bring a gun that belonged to Miles to him the night of the incident.
Brandon Miller Provided Gun That Killed Jamae Jonae Harris
On Jan. 15, then junior forward Darius Miles was present when 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris was shot and killed near the Alabama campus. The alleged triggerman was another man named Michael Davis. But freshman star Brandon Miller supplied Miles with the gun and his car allegedly was present at the scene.
Miles and Davis were arrested on capital murder charges but Miller has continued to play for the Crimson Tide, which is looking at locking up a number-one seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
Miller has not been charged. When asked why not, Tuscaloosa deputy district attorney Paula Whitley told AL.com, “That’s not a question I can answer. There’s nothing we can charge him with.”
Enter Ray Lewis.
Ray Lewis Advises Alabama On Handling Murder Of Jamea Jonae Harris
For those unfamiliar, Lewis was involved in a murder following a Super Bowl XXXIV party in Atlanta in 2000.
A fight broke out between Lewis and his friends and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two friends, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges.
The infamous white suit Lewis was wearing the night of the killings has never been found. Former Fulton County district attorney Paul Howard alleged the blood-stained suit was dumped in a garbage bin outside a fast food restaurant. A knife found at the scene did not have any fingerprints or DNA. Lewis testified that Oakley and Sweeting had bought knives earlier in the week before the Super Bowl from a Sports Authority where Lewis had been signing autographs. Baker’s blood was found inside the limousine in which Lewis was riding.
The murder charges against Lewis were eventually dropped after his lawyer negotiated a deal in exchange for Lewis testifying against Oakley and Sweeting. Both Oakley and Sweeting were acquitted of the charges a year later.
In the years that have passed, many believe Lewis knows much more about the murders than he let on or accepted responsibility for.
As for Oats reaching out to Lewis, he reportedly did so as a way to seek some advice regarding the situation since Miller finds himself in a place similar to that of Lewis from years ago, according to SI.com.
Oats was initially dismissive of Miller’s involvement chalking it up to wrong place “wrong time.”
“We knew about that. Can’t control everything anybody does outside of practice. Nobody knew that was going to happen,” Oats said to Al.com. “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.”
A woman is dead and Oats has a player in Miles, since let go from the team, arrested for murder. Another in Miller who is more intimately involved in the crime than originally suspected still playing.
This doesn’t smell right and calling Lewis for “advice” makes it stink worse.
