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Former Alabama Crimson Tide basketball player Brandon Miller has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a January shooting that left a woman dead on the Tuscaloosa strip near Alabama’s campus.
The family of 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris, who was killed in the shooting, filed a lawsuit against Miller, former Alabama player Darius Miles and Michael Davis demanding a jury trial to award damages, per ESPN’s Chris Low.
The lawsuit alleges that Miller, who was selected No. 2 overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2023 NBA draft, Miles and Davis “knew or should have known that bringing a dangerous weapon to a dispute and discharging said weapon would likely result in harm.”
It also alleges that “as a direct or proximate consequence of the negligence or wantonness of each of the defendants,” Harris suffered injuries that resulted in her death.
A police investigator testified in court that Miller was on the scene of the fatal shooting. The investigator also testified that the gun used in the shooting was retrieved from the 20-year-old’s vehicle.
Miller’s attorney, Jim Standridge, said his client had “no knowledge of any intent to use the weapon.” Standridge also said that Miller never touched the gun and wasn’t involved in its exchange.
Additionally, Standridge said Miller did not know any illegal activity involving the gun would happen and said that the weapon “was concealed under some clothing in the back seat of his car.”
In addition to the lawsuit, Miles and Davis are facing capital murder charges.
Miller signed a four-year, $49.4 million rookie deal with the Hornets in July and is scheduled to make his NBA debut on Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.