Jurors See Illuminating Evidence On Third Day Of Michael Davis Capital Murder Trial

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Jurors heard another full day of testimony Thursday in the capital murder case of Michael Lynn Davis, who is charged with capital murder along with former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles following the 2023 shooting death of Jamea Harris.

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While the biggest highlight of the day was former Crimson Tide standout and Charlotte Hornet Brandon Miller testifying that his car was struck twice by Davis during the shootout with Cedric Johnson, Harris' boyfriend, on Grace Street near The Strip in the morning hours of Jan. 15, 2023.

Miles, who is being tried separately, is accused of giving Davis the gun used to to shoot Harris in the face as she sat in the passenger seat of her black Jeep Wrangler. A trial date in his case has not been set.

Following a break for lunch after Miller finished testifying, jurors were shown police body camera footage taken at The Vie at University Downs apartment following the initial 911 call by Miles to report his friend — Davis — had been shot.

Footage shown to jurors later depicted Davis being treated by paramedics while Miles can be heard telling him to calm down.

When the responding Tuscaloosa Police officer asked Davis how he got shot, he told her he didn't remember. The officer then followed the ambulance to DCH Regional Medical Center and spoke with him briefly in the room where he was being treated.

The video showed Davis in a hospital bed groaning in pain with a gunshot wound to the shoulder and a graze on the side. He also tells the officer he doesn't remember where he was when he was shot.

A Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit investigator also spoke with Davis at the hospital and testified Davis told him he couldn't remember who shot him nor did he care for police to find out who did.

"I don't care who shot me," he said in an audio recording played for the jury. "I don't know how any of this happened. I don't remember."

Former Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit investigator Branden Culpepper, who was recently promoted to sergeant and supervisor of the TPD's night shift patrol division, was the lead investigator on the case and has been seated at the prosecution's table in every court proceeding.

Culpepper said the morning of the shooting, he first went to the Walk of Champions, where Cedric Johnson had earlier made contact with a University of Alabama Police officer immediately following the shooting.

Culpepper testified Harris "had a cheeseburger in her left hand" when her body was recovered from the passenger side of her Jeep. A forensics expert testified earlier in the week that she had been hit in the chin by a single bullet that exited through the back of her neck, killing her almost instantly.

When the jury was shown photos from the autopsy, one picture in particular did show Harris holding what appeared to be a paper wrapper of some kind.

The Jeep was then searched and several items recovered as evidence, including the Taurus Judge revolver Johnson used to shoot Davis twice.

While it is prohibited by court order from being discussed in front of the jury due to relevance, defense attorney John Robbins, representing Davis, has attempted multiple failed motions seeking to ask witnesses about a backpack recovered from the Jeep that contained a felony amount of marijuana, a digital scale and bags.

Circuit Judge Daniel Pruet has ruled each time that the backpack isn't relevant to the fatal shooting because both sides agree the violent altercation was not the result of a "drug deal gone wrong."

Culpepper testified that after going to the scene at the Walk of Champions, he then went to the other crime scene on Grace Street where investigators recovered eight spent .40 caliber shell casings.

Jurors also heard a 911 call made by a young woman who told police she saw a man in a red and black flannel shirt get out of what she thought was a black car and fire a shotgun on Grace Street.

Later under cross-examination, Culpepper said what was believed to be wadding from a shotgun shell was recovered on Grace Street but never entered as evidence.

"I didn't know about it at the time," he said on the stand Thursday.

The prosecution at one point showed photos of the trajectory rods used to show the angle the Jeep was shot at. One shot appears to have been fired through the driver's side window at an angle that would have struck Harris in the face. Jurors also saw a bullet hole in the windshield of the Jeep.

Other evidence was introduced, such as a bloodstained multi-colored camouflage jacket and black ski mask that Davis was wearing on the morning of the shooting. Culpepper said DNA testing conducted on both articles of clothing were determined to belong to Davis.

Culpepper was still on the stand when he was asked about a surveillance video taken from at camera at Publix. He told the jury the video showed it was Davis who fired first after he ran up from behind the Jeep to the driver's side.

The video is blurry but does depict the shooting from the driver's side of the Jeep, while Robbins has contended that Johnson fired first as he stalked Davis.

"It looks like the first shot came from outside of the Jeep," he said.

When going over additional evidence for the jury, Culpepper said it was former Alabama basketball player Jaden Quinerly who notified his parents right after the shooting that he knew something about a handgun.

Quinerly transferred to Memphis after the 2022-23 season concluded.

Culpepper said a search warrant was executed at The Vie at University Downs where investigators recovered a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in a back closet in the apartment. He testified it was found in a drawer wrapped in a Gatorade towel.

Perhaps the most compelling piece of evidence presented Thursday was video of Culpepper's initial interview with Davis at the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit office.

Davis, wearing hospital scrubs, told him the last thing he remembered was getting into an ambulance at The Vie and that he wasn't "from around here." He appeared unaware that investigators had already spoke with other witnesses

He then said "My brother is on the basketball team."

Davis explained he had known Miles since the seventh grade and moved to Tuscaloosa to be close to Miles and "get away from Maryland."

Davis goes on to say that he started drinking Tito's vodka around 9-10 p.m. but insisted he didn't remember how he got shot, who shot him or even being on The Strip just before the shooting.

"I was not shooting at nobody," Davis asserted at one point in the interview, before being told that Miles was also at the VCU office.

Davis asked why, to which Culpepper responded "because you got shot," and again asked him how it happened. "Darius knows, his girlfriend knows, because you were talking to them."

"This is your chance to tell me what happened," Culpepper added. "You caught a round in the shoulder but a girl caught a round to the face."

"You're telling me I did this and I don't know what you're talking about," Davis responded.

The next piece of evidence presented to the jury was the 911 call made by Darius Miles from The Vie just minutes after the shooting.

Miles tells the dispatcher that his friend has been shot in the shoulder and is asked how many people are injured, to which he responds "Just one that I know of."

The dispatcher also asked Miles to ask his friend where he was when he was shot, with Davis heard in the background saying "I don't know."

Davis then gets on the phone with the dispatcher and says he's been shot in the shoulder and the side.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "I think I'm grazed. I can't move my shoulder. I need an ambulance."

When asked by the dispatcher how he got to The Vie, Davis said "I called my friend to come get me."

As Patch previously reported, Miles and his girlfriend — Skylar Essex, who also testified this week — picked up Davis in the minutes after the shooting.

During cross-examination by Robbins, Culpepper testified that Johnson fired his revolver a total of four times during the shooting and returned fire from inside the Jeep.

One of the more compelling moments during cross-examination came when Robbins pointed out that the controls for the Jeeps headlights were completely separate from the well-known triangle button in the center of the dashboard that controls the flashing hazard lights.

This appeared to be an attempt to undermine Johnson's credibility after he testified on Wednesday that he "accidentally" turned off the headlines while trying to turn off the Jeep's hazard lights in the moments before the shootout began.

As the third day of the trial came to a close, Robbins ended his cross-examination of Culpepper by asking about the cell phone Johnson had given to investigators.

Culpepper explained that Johnson gave him multiple passwords to the phone but none of them worked and eventually the number of failed attempts caused the phone to lock.

The evidentiary phase of the trial will resume tomorrow morning in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.

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