Jury Finds Michael Davis Guilty Of Capital Murder In 2023 Shooting Death Of Jamea Harris

TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa County jury on Friday took roughly an hour to find Maryland native Michael Lynn Davis guilty of capital murder in the 2023 shooting death of a Birmingham woman near The Strip.

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The verdict was returned just before 5 p.m. Friday following nearly a full week of testimony from numerous witnesses during the evidentiary phase of the trial.

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet sentenced Davis to life without the possibility of parole after the verdict was handed down and Davis could be seen crying as he turned to speak to his family before being taken back to the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

Harris' family was also emotional following the guilty verdict being read by Judge Pruet and declined to the speak to the media gathered outside the courtroom as they filed out.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley, who headed up the state's case against Davis, said the prosecution was pleased with the decision.

"We are very happy that the jury listened to the evidence and came to the decision that they did," she said. "With the hard work of law enforcement and ongoing commitment from the family, we are very satisfied with the outcome of this case. We believe this is partial justice for Jamea."

Indeed, the prosecution's work is not finished as the co-defendant in the case — former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles — is being tried separately and has yet to have a trial date set.

Miles, who was childhood friends with Davis, is accused of knowingly providing him the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun that was used to shoot Harris in the face as she sat in the passenger seat of her black Jeep Wrangler.

"We have not given [the case against Miles] thought at this time, since we are just walking out of the verdict but we will continue to work on his case and all the other cases we have in the office," Whitley said.

Defense attorney John Robbins represented Davis and told Patch that while they are disappointed in the verdict, they have no choice but to respect it at this point.

"Come Monday we'll start working on taking an appeal of this," he said. "We believe there are several issues we can raise on appeal and we're going to do our best to try to be successful. You know the one that I fought about almost every day. I respectfully disagree with the judge's decision on that and we'll see who is going to be right on that issue in the end."

The "issue" Robbins is referring to was a backpack recovered from the Jeep owned by Harris and driven by her boyfriend Cedric Johnson at the time of the shooting.

Robbins argued multiple times that the backpack, which Johnson admitted belonged to him before the exchange was struck from the record, contained a felony amount of marijuana, a digital scale and baggies indicated that Johnson was a "drug dealer."

Robbins, who was nearly held in contempt by Judge Pruet for pushing to include this information, claimed during his motions that this showed Harris and Johnson — both natives of Birmingham — were in Tuscaloosa to sell marijuana on a busy night following the Crimson Tide's basketball game with LSU.

Judge Pruet denied allowing these recovered items to be discussed in front of the jury due to both sides agreeing early on that the fatal incident was not the result of a "drug deal gone wrong."

The jury — consisting of six Black women, five White women and three White men — heard closing arguments from both sides after roughly three days of testimony, which included Davis making the surprise decision to take the witness stand on Friday as the final testimony of the evidentiary phase of the trial.

ALSO READ: Michael Davis Testifies Ahead Of Closing Arguments In Capital Murder Trial

During closing arguments, Whitley reiterated the state's position that Harris was killed as the result of a calculated ambush after Davis was seen on surveillance camera hiding near a building off of Grace Street as the Jeep pulled in behind vehicles owned by former Alabama basketball players Brandon Miller and Jaden Bradley.

Whitley also asked jurors to view the case from the ground level instead of the complicated overhead view offered by the defense.

"What does this man [Davis] over here know?," she said, pointing to Davis at the defendant's table. "What does he see? What does he do?"

Whitley then asked the jury to consider if Davis "intended to kill," if he was provoked by the actions of Cedric Johnson, or he if acted in self-defense when he fired the shot that struck Harris in the chin — killing her almost instantly.

"We believe we have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty of capital murder," she told the jury.

Whitley continued by highlighting certain details for the jury, including the fact that Davis has the opportunity to leave the scene but instead got a gun, donned a camouflage coat and ski-mask, and waited in the shadows for the right time to strike.

"He said he did it on the witness stand," she said, before arguing that there was no way Davis could have known that Johnson had moved to the driver's seat in the minutes after the verbal altercation on The Strip when he had been in the back seat of the Jeep.

Another key argument for the state has been the accusation that Davis told Miles to get his girlfriend, Skylar Essex, "out of here," just before the first shot was fired.

Whitley again walked the jury through the timeline of events, saying that Miles could be seen and heard on video showing Davis where the gun was, telling him it was loaded and that there was a round in the chamber.

"Then with a gun he goes and hides where he is safe and hidden," she told the jury. "Wearing a mask and with a gun."

Whitley also pointed out that in the moments before the shooting, both Davis and Miles walk directly past the Jeep without issue for its occupants.

"Nothing happens to cause him to go up to the Jeep," she said.

In closing, Whitley took issue with defense attorney John Robbins arguing that the actions by Davis on that cold January morning were "justified."

"'Justified' ... I wrote that word down," she said. "There was no heat of passion. Nothing happened he needed to defend himself from. This was a cold-blooded ambush. This was murder."

The closing argument by Robbins shifted the blame to Cedric Johnson's actions in the moments leading up to the shooting that killed his girlfriend and the mother of his child.

Robbins told the jury to focus on the "little significant lies by Johnson that demonstrates his intent."

Indeed, Robbins has argued that Johnson — who was armed with a Taurus Judge revolver — felt disrespected after the verbal spat with Davis on The Strip and an additional altercation with another group of men immediately after Davis, Miles and former Alabama basketball player Jaden Bradley had set off down Grace Street.

Robbins claims that following this altercation, Johnson grabbed his three friends — who could be seen in a stolen red Impala — and set off to find the men who had disrespected him in front of his girlfriend and her cousin, Asia Humphrey.

"This case is a case of self-defense," Robbins told the jury. "[Johnson's] upset because he feels he was disrespected and is going to do something about it."

In making the self-defense argument, Robbins pointed to the fact that his client saw that Johnson was armed before he armed himself.

He also insists that Johnson intentionally misled the jury when he said he "accidentally" cut off the headlights of the Jeep right before the shooting.

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