Michael Davis Testifies Ahead Of Closing Arguments In Capital Murder Trial

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Both sides rested Friday morning in the capital murder trial of Michael Lynn Davis but not before the defendant made the surprise move of taking the witness stand to argue he acted in self-defense during a 2023 shooting that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old Birmingham woman.

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As Patch previously reported, Davis is accused of firing the fatal shot that killed Jamea Harris as she sat in the front passenger seat of her Jeep during an exchange of gunfire on Grace Street between Davis and her boyfriend, Cedric Johnson.

Former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles is accused of knowingly providing him the gun used in the shooting. His case is being tried separately and no trial date has been set.

Johnson testified earlier this week that Davis was the aggressor and fired first, roughly seven minutes after a brief verbal altercation between the two men at the intersection of Grace Street and University Boulevard.

Birmingham defense attorney John Robbins, who is representing Davis, insists that Johnson was the first to introduce a gun, along with mentioning the occupants of a stolen red Chevy Impala that defense attorneys claim were involved in the shooting.

He also brought in an expert Friday to confirm that the controls for the Jeep's headlights were completely separate from the well-known triangle button in the center of the dashboard that controls the flashing hazard lights.

As Patch previously reported, this appeared to be an attempt to undermine Johnson's credibility after he testified on Wednesday that he "accidentally" turned off the headlights while trying to turn off the Jeep's hazard lights in the moments before the shootout began.

Robbins has argued at every turn that following the altercation on The Strip, Davis became worried after seeing a gun passed to Johnson in the back seat from Harris, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Robbins said by the time the gun used by Davis got to the scene on Grace Street in Alabama basketball player Brandon Miller's car, the Jeep — with its headlights turned off — was already pulling down Grace Street to execute a U-turn before heading back up the street and pulling in behind the two parked cars owned by Miller and former Alabama basketball player Jaden Bradley.

"The perception is a drive-by shooting," Robbins insisted Friday.

Miller testified Thursday that a message sent to him by Miles suggested that the group he was heading to meet on Grace Street felt threatened immediately prior to the gunfight that saw Harris killed and Davis shot twice.

He also testified he didn't know the gun was in the car until he was already on the way to pick up Miles — his teammate who'd ridden with him earlier in the evening.

The prosecution rested Friday morning without calling any additional witnesses, before Robbins called an employee of a local Jeep dealership to speak to the differences in the hazard lights and headlights on a 2018 Jeep Wrangler.

The biggest surprise of the morning, though, came when Robbins called Davis to the witness stand.

This followed the jury seeing a video of Davis' interview with lead investigator Branden Culpepper immediately following the shooting that showed him telling police that he didn't know how he'd gotten shot, where it happened or who did it.

Davis testified he was 20 years old at the time of the shooting and had moved to Tuscaloosa because "my friend [Miles] wanted me to come up here and I wanted a new start," he said.

The native of Landover, Maryland, confirmed much of the series of events that have already been established over the last week, saying that he first went to The Vie at University Downs to "pre-game" with Miles, Bradley, Miller and UA basketball walk-on Jaden Quinerly before the group went to The Strip.

This was following Alabama's blowout win over LSU earlier in the day that saw Miller drop 31 points.

Davis said when he went out that night, he was wearing a hoodie that said "I Love Sluts," a Supreme-brand puffer jacket and a black ski-mask to hold up his hair.

After spending some time in Club 1225 on The Strip without any issues, Davis testified the group left and began mulling over what they would do next.

Davis went on to testify that he crossed University Boulevard toward Grace Street and started dancing for about "3-5 seconds" on the sidewalk near CVS.

Video shown to the jurors confirms this, with Davis just a few feet from the front of the Jeep where Cedric Johnson sat in the back seat, while Harris and her cousin, Asia Humphrey, were in the front.

Davis testified that he stopped dancing once the back window of the Jeep was rolled down and Johnson told him "Nah, bro ... they good" — referring to the two women in the front.

Consistent with previous testimony from others, Davis responded by saying "I don't want your girl."

Johnson denied this during his testimony earlier in the week and said had Davis told him that, it would've "diffused the situation then and there."

Johnson also previously testified that Davis told him his name was "Buzz" and that "he whacked people" — a notion Davis flatly denied on the stand Friday morning.

Instead, Davis claimed he told Johnson to get out of the Jeep and fight with their fists but he refused.

But it was at this point that Davis and Miles both claimed to have seen Harris pass the Taurus Judge revolver to Johnson in the back seat.

"I had seen him move his arm toward the passenger side of the vehicle and that concerned me," Davis said. "I was trying to see what he was grabbing."

Video shows Miles and Bradley physically pull Davis away from the Jeep and continue on down Grace Street to where Bradley had parked.

The two-door car owned by Bradley can't be seen in security footage where it was parked but can later be viewed after Bradley and Miles both got into the vehicle and left Davis on foot.

Davis, at this point, is now wearing his Supreme camouflage coat and has his ski mask pulled down, testifying that this was because the temperature was below freezing that morning.

Bradley testified earlier this week that Davis was angry after the altercation with Johnson and refused to get into his car. He also said Davis wanted to go back up Grace Street and "look for the Jeep."

Davis said on the stand Friday there was no room in Bradley's car because the small bench seat in the back was full of basketball equipment.

Still, Davis said around this time he received a text message from the girlfriend of Miles — Skylar Essex — saying there had just been an unrelated fight on Grace Street involving a girl "he liked," so he set off to meet her.

Davis then said he wasn't angry when he finally met up with Essex and asked her if she knew where the Jeep was because he was indeed worried after getting a glimpse of the gun and seeing the Jeep leave the area.

He said Essex looked around after he asked and said "You talking about that Jeep?" before pointing in its direction as it executed the U-turn on Grace Street.

Indeed, dash camera footage obtained from Miller's car shows the two vehicles passing one another, with the Jeep's headlights turned off prior to the U-turn and pulling in behind Miller.

Davis said he was unaware of the texts between Miles and Miller but knew they had been in communication with one another.

It's at this point that Miles informs Davis where the gun is in Miller's car, tells him that it's loaded and that there is a round in the chamber.

Davis testified that he knew Miles had a gun that evening and wanted it "so I could be prepared for the guy coming to hurt me," as he saw the Jeep coming their way with its lights off.

Davis is then seen walking off camera to the side of a nearby apartment building and told the jury that he was afraid for his life and the safety of his friends nearby.

"I didn't want him to shoot me," Davis said on the stand. "I was scared."

Davis then said seeing the Jeep pull in behind Miller forced him to act and he ran up to the driver's side window but didn't have the gun held out ready to shoot.

Davis explained his version of what happened next by saying Johnson was armed and "as I was fixing to shoot, he shot me in the shoulder."

He said he fell down after he was hit and was grazed again once he was on the ground before he got back to his feet and returned fire. He was captured on Miller's dash cam running in front of the car firing the handgun, which Miller said struck his windshield twice.

Davis claimed his intention was not to kill Harris but to protect his friends.

"I didn't want my friends to be in danger so I had to get them before he got me," he testified.

Under cross-examination, Chief Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley asked Davis about Jaden Bradley's testimony when he said Davis was angry, refused to get into the car and wanted to go looking for the Jeep.

While Davis refused to call Bradley a "liar," he instead claimed he was worried about the Jeep but not angry enough to go looking for it.

Whitley also pointed out in security camera footage that Davis and Miles both walked by the Jeep immediately prior to the shooting and are never threatened, shot at or otherwise disturbed by its occupants.

Indeed, Whitley then questioned why neither Davis nor Miles got into a vehicle to leave if both felt their personal safety was in danger.

"Instead, you and Darius walk to Brandon Miller's car and get the semiautomatic handgun," she said, before bringing up prior testimony claiming Davis told Miles to get his girlfriend "out of there," as if something bad was about to happen.

Whitley continued the cross-examination by asking Davis about his decision to hide behind a building while the Jeep pulled in behind Miller and Bradley — well after the Jeep had already driven past Miles and Davis without incident.

Still, Davis was asked by Whitley about the events that followed the shooting and namely his noted lack of cooperation with investigators working the case.

Davis claimed he did not trust the police nor want any help from law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of an incident that left him with a serious gunshot wound in the shoulder. He claimed he was fully unaware that anyone else had been struck.

What's more, Davis also denied wrapping the gun in a Gatorade towel and hiding it in a drawer in Jaden Quinerly's apartment — a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson that was later recovered after a search warrant was executed.

"I had give it back to Darius," he told the jury about the handgun. "I don't know what he did with the gun. I just gave it to him."

Miles was the first to call 911 from the apartment complex and told dispatch that he didn't know how his friend had gotten shot and Davis reiterated Friday that while he wanted medical treatment for his wounds, he didn't want to involve the police in any way.

"I'm just scared of the police, period," he said during cross-examination.

The jury will hear closing arguments and begin deliberations Friday afternoon.

Jurors will consider charges of capital murder, provocation manslaughter and self-defense.

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