Michael Davis was found guilty of capital murder Friday for the murder of Jamea Harris on the Strip in 2023. He has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The jury presented its verdict following a four-day trial and just over an hour of deliberation. The evidentiary portion of the trial concluded with closing statements from the prosecution and the defense. A lesser included offense of manslaughter had also been included if the jury did not find him guilty of capital murder.
Davis was accused of shooting Harris minutes after an altercation that broke out at the intersection of Grace Street and University Boulevard.
Paula Whitley, Tuscaloosa County chief assistant district attorney, began her closing statement by acknowledging the “very interesting and informative” videos shown to the jury over the course of the trial. She then told the jury that they must ask themselves if Michael Davis intended to kill and if he had a reasonable belief that he was in “such danger” that he was justified to use deadly force.
When discussing the grounds of the possible charge of provocation manslaughter, she asked the jury if he was in such a heat of passion and didn’t have the time to calm down to the point that his actions wouldn’t be considered murder.
Whitley argued that Davis was not in danger.
“[Davis] walks right past the black Jeep, and what happens to [him]? Nothing,” she said.
Darius Miles, a former Alabama basketball player, is also facing a capital murder charge in a separate case for allegedly providing Davis with the gun used to shoot Harris.
Whitley referenced how the camera footage showing Skylar Essex, Miles’ girlfriend, pointing out the black Jeep after Davis allegedly asked her if she’d seen it, shows his intent and opportunity to leave the scene.
She cited how in dashcam audio from Brandon Miller’s car just after Davis and Miles entered the backseat to retrieve the gun, Davis asked Miles if there was “one in the head” to see if the gun was loaded and ready to fire. Shortly after, Davis hid behind a nearby apartment complex.
“He runs, he hides, he lies,” Whitley said.
Video footage shows a man in a yellow jacket, allegedly Miles, walking past the Jeep just moments before the shooting occurred.
“What happens to Darius as he passes that Jeep? What is the danger to Darius? Nothing,” Whitley said. “Nothing happens that then causes that man in a ski mask to run up to the back of the Jeep, run up to the driver’s side window, point his gun and start shooting.”
Whitley said there was no heat of passion and nothing Davis needed to defend himself from.
“This was a cold-blooded ambush,” Whitley said. “This was murder.”
John Robbins, a defense attorney representing Davis, began his closing statement by telling the jury he would take them through video footage to point out “significant lies” told by Cedric Johnson, the father of Harris’ child to “demonstrate his intent.” Robbins argued that following an earlier confrontation between the two, Davis felt threatened by Robbins and acted in self-defense, accidentally striking Harris.
“Once self-defense is raised, the state of Alabama must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Michael Davis did not act in self-defense,” Robbins said.
Robbins pulled up camera footage from Twelve25, a bar on the strip, showing the initial confrontation between Davis and Johnson, beginning when Davis danced in front of the car. According to both Johnson’s and Davis’ testimonies, Johnson said “they’re good bro” after Davis approached the window, referring to the women in the Jeep, and Davis replied, “I don’t want your girl.”
“Apparently, that’s not good enough for Cedric Johnson,” Robbins said.
Robbins referenced how Davis stated in his testimony that he told Johnson he wanted to fistfight.
“Jamea hands Cedric his gun, and that was told to you by Asia, who was in the car,” Robbins said. Asia Humphrey, Harris’ cousin who was also in the Jeep when Davis fired into it, testified Tuesday.
After Davis leaves, a man in a yellow jacket approaches the window after hearing the altercation. He has been identified as a friend of Harris and Humphrey, though Johnson says he was unaware of that at the time. Robbins brought up how Johnson stated in his testimony that the man and his friends called him “scared” and proceeded to ask for their phone numbers, causing him to feel “disrespected.”
Cedric can be seen getting out of the car walking toward the men with his hand on his hip as they walk away, but he said he was pulling up his pants. After getting back in the Jeep, it remained at the stop sign on Grace Street.
“If he wanted to go home, he could leave,” Robbins said.
Robbins mentioned how in Humphrey’s testimony, she mentioned that Johnson used GPS to navigate, which Robbins said gave him the option to drop Humphrey off and go home, which both Humphrey and Johnson claimed in their testimonies they intended on doing at the time.
“He’s upset he was disrespected, and he’s gonna do something about it,” Robbins said.
Video footage shows Johnson meeting up with friends of his just minutes before the shooting. They have a brief conversation before they get back into their cars, with one person interacting with the trunk.
“We submit that is when he got his shotgun,” Robbins said.
The car allegedly containing Johnson’s friends follows the Jeep to the site of the shooting, with one man stepping out to fire a shotgun after the initial exchange between Johnson and Davis.
Robbins said Johnson went “hunting” for Davis and his friends with “a gun in his hand, with the window down, with the intent to kill,” Robbins said, adding that Johnson “wanted to prove he was a badass.”
Robbins said Davis felt threatened after seeing Johnson’s jeep approach with the lights off, which Robbins said was evidence of his intent to do a “drive-by shooting.” He also stated how the window had to already have been rolled down because there was no damage to it from the exchange of gunfire occurring on the drivers side resulting in the fatal injury of Harris and a gunshot wound to Davis’ shoulder.
Robbins brought up Davis’ statements to police, in which he denied that he knew where or how he was shot.
“The list is long why a young Black man wouldn’t want to talk to the police, that’s neither here nor there,” Robbins said. “It doesn’t negate the fact that my client was threatened and afraid.”
In Whitley’s rebuttal, she said she didn’t think it was reasonable to believe that a man would set up a “drive-by shooting” with the mother of his child and her cousin in the car.
“He’s guilty of murder,” Whitley said.
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