A former University of Alabama basketball player was behind bars Sunday night after he was arrested in connection with a fatal shootout near campus, authorities said.
Darius Hairston Miles, 21, from Washington, D.C., was one of two men arrested after gunfire was exchanged between people in vehicles just off the Strip, Tascaloosa’s campus-adjacent nightlife district, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said.
He was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail, the office said in a statement. The victim was Jamea Jonae Harris, 23, it said.
None of the other parties were affiliated with the institution. It wasn’t clear if Miles has retained private counsel for the case. The public defender’s office in Tuscaloosa didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alabama Athletics on Sunday said that it extends its deepest sympathies to the victim’s family and friends and announced that Miles was no longer a part of its basketball team.
Miles’ name was not on the institution’s basketball roster online late Sunday. The university said in a statement, “He has been removed from our campus.”
It wasn’t clear if Miles was no longer a student, or if ejecting him from the institution can be done without a process. The sheriff’s statement addressed his status with the university in past tense.
The shooting was reported early Sunday in the nightlife district.
“It appears at this time that the shooting was the result of a minor argument that occurred between the victims and suspects after they encountered each other along the strip,” the sheriff’s office said.
Shortly before 2 a.m., a driver pulled up to a University of Alabama Police vehicle at the strip-adjacent Walk of Champions at Bryant Denny Stadium to report that a passenger, still inside, had been fatally shot, the office said.
The driver told investigators that someone in another vehicle opened fire on his vehicle just off the Strip and that he returned fire, possibly injuring someone in the opposing vehicle, it said.
Sheriff’s Violent Crimes Unit detectives tracked down two suspects after speaking with witnesses and viewing security video, the office said.
One of the two suspects was injured in the shootout, the office said, but it did not identify which or mention if he was hospitalized.
The other suspect, also booked on an allegation of capital murder, was identified as Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland.
The university said it’s cooperating with the investigation.
Members of the campus community affected by the violence can connect with campus counselors, even on Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, the university said in its statement.
Lindsey Pipia contributed.