Alabama's Brandon Miller could have stopped a tragedy. He didn't. Dan Wetzel

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Miller complied, according to AL.com reporting from the courthouse. He'd previously tried to go to a bar there, Twelve25 Sports Bar, with Miles and Davis but left because the line was too long.

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On the return trip, police allege that Miller parked his car in a manner that blocked the Jeep that Harris, her boyfriend and a cousin, who is an Alabama student, were in. Bradley also allegedly parked his car in that manner.

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There had been a dispute earlier between the parties that centered on Harris not being interested in talking with Davis, who allegedly told officers he was so drunk on tequila that he doesn’t recall a thing. An argument ensued — “It got a little elevated,” Det. Branden Culpepper testified, according to AL.com.
There had been a dispute earlier between the parties that centered on Harris not being interested in talking with Davis, who allegedly told officers he was so drunk on tequila that he doesn’t recall a thing. An argument ensued — “It got a little elevated,” Det. Branden Culpepper testified, according to AL.com.

It was about to get even more elevated. When Miller arrived, Miles and Davis got in his car, according to testimony. It was there that Miles took the gun and then handed it to Davis, telling him, "There’s one in the head,” a reference, police testified, to a bullet being in the chamber.


It was about to get even more elevated. When Miller arrived, Miles and Davis got in his car, according to testimony. It was there that Miles took the gun and then handed it to Davis, telling him, "There’s one in the head,” a reference, police testified, to a bullet being in the chamber.

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With the gun in his hand, Davis walked up and “began firing through the driver’s side window of the Jeep,” AL.com reported. “He fired at least eight shots, some of them while running in an arc from the driver’s side around the back of the vehicle.”

Harris’ boyfriend used his own gun to return fire, hitting both Davis in the shoulder and Miller’s Dodge Charger twice. The boyfriend then was able to drive the Jeep away. He soon spotted a police car and, seeking help, stopped at the nearby Walk of Champions in front of Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Harris, the mother of a 5-year-old boy, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Miles and Davis are being charged with capital murder. Miller has not been charged with any crime, and an assistant district attorney told AL.com that “there’s nothing we could charge him with,” according to the law.

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Let’s be clear, though: Even if Miller is cleared of any actual legal charges, that doesn’t mean his behavior is excusable.

This was Miller getting a request to bring a weapon to someone he had to reasonably believe had been drinking, perhaps heavily, in a crowded college bar district and doing so rather than a) not doing it, b) telling his teammate to leave rather than escalate the situation, c) driving over unarmed and picking his teammate up or d) any number of other better options — namely, anything else. Even doing nothing would have been better.

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It was Miller bringing a loaded weapon to the wrong spot at the wrong time and everything getting more wrong from there.

Alabama’s season is on the brink now. No matter how this went before, it’ll likely be different going forward.

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