Tuscaloosa, wing. – Jaden Bradley, a former Senior of Alabama and current Arizona, testified on Wednesday at the capital murder trial of Michael “Buzz” Davis in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Bradley said he heard shots on the night of January 14, 2023, while he was on the scene at the Strip near the University of Alabama campus, but did not see who shot the gun.
Davis is accused of shooting and killing Jamea Harris while sitting in the passenger seat of a black jeep. Darius Miles, another former basketball player from Crimson Tide, is also accused of capital murder for allegedly “helping and inciting” Davis.
Bradley is one of the four members of the Alabama male basketball team in the witness list, and the first to testify at the trial, which began on Monday. The others, former players Brandon Miller and Nick Pringle together with former Cooper Lee team manager could also be called to take the stand.
Neither Bradley, Miller, Pringle nor Lee have been accused of irregularities in the case.
Bradley, dressed in a gray suit and a black shirt with buttons, took the poda for almost 45 minutes on Wednesday, often giving short answers to the questions asked by the assistant prosecutor of the Tuscaloosa County District, Paula Whitley, or defense lawyer John Robbins.
Bradley testified that on the night of the shooting, he and Davis set up together at the Dodge Challenger of two Bradley to the Strip seats. Bradley, Davis and Miles entered the twelve25 Sports bar at University Boulevard and Grace Street, while Miller went elsewhere.
After the three left the sports bar, Bradley testified that Davis was dancing and laughing near a black jeep that was inactive in Grace Street. He said Davis and a man in the Jeep, Cedric Johnson, began to speak with each other. According to Bradley, neither Johnson nor Davis directed threats to each other, but his conversation reached a point where Bradley and Miles tried to remove Davis.
The conversation between Davis and Johnson is one of the focal points of the trial.
After the conversation, Bradley said that he, Davis and Miles returned to Bradley's car, but that Davis returned to Grace Street because “there was no space in the back seat.” Bradley testified that Davis said he was “worried about the Jeep.”
According to Bradley, he and Miles finally found Davis in Grace Street. He said Miles left Bradley's car to talk to his girlfriend and then to Davis. Bradley said Davis and Miles spent their car and then stopped in Miller.
The next thing Bradley said he heard were shots. He said he did not see the shots, but when he heard them he left alone, arriving home. Miller and Bradley were roommates at that time.
During his testimony on Wednesday, Bradley also said that he did not know that Miles had sent a text message to Miller that brought Miles's weapon to the event of the eventual shooting.
The State has called six witnesses in the first two days of testimony, which continues on Thursday morning. Before the beginning of the trial, the state took the death penalty out of the table for Davis as a sentence option if it is convicted.
