Alabama forward Miles arrested on murder charge

Alabama men’s basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder in connection with an early morning shooting near campus that killed a 23-year-old woman.

Miles was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail around 6:45 p.m. ET Sunday, an official with the jail told ESPN. In a statement Sunday, the university said Miles, a junior reserve forward from Washington, D.C., is no longer on the team.

Tuscaloosa police Capt. Jack Kennedy said the shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the Strip off University Boulevard near campus. He said Jamea Harris of the Birmingham area was shot and killed.

Miles, 21, and Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland, were both charged with capital murder. The capital murder charge arose because the death involved shots fired into a vehicle, Kennedy said.

“At this time, it appears that the only motive was a minor altercation that these individuals had with the victim as they were out on The Strip,” Kennedy said in a news conference Sunday evening. They didn’t have a previous relationship, he said.

He said the driver of another vehicle, in which Harris was a passenger, approached campus police near Bryant-Denny Stadium at about 1:45 a.m., saying that someone had shot into the vehicle and he fired back. One of the suspects was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital, and Kennedy declined to disclose who fired the gun or who was hurt.

Neither the driver of the other vehicle nor Harris nor Davis appeared to be affiliated with the university, Kennedy said.

On Saturday, Alabama had announced before its game against LSU that Miles would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. His bio has been removed from the athletic department website, and the university’s statement said he “has been removed from campus.”

“The University of Alabama’s utmost priority is the safety and well-being of the campus community,” the statement read. “We are grieved by the incident that occurred near campus last night and extend our deepest condolences to the victim’s family and friends.”

In a video posted by AL.com, an emotional Miles can be heard saying, “I swear … I love you more than you imagine” to someone as he is escorted into a law enforcement vehicle.

Miles had participated in six games this season. The last time he played for the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide, on Dec. 20, he scored two points in Alabama’s 84-64 win over Jackson State.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.