'I Want To Own Up To It': Testimony Continues In NYT Defamation Case As Trial Heads To Second Week

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The New York Times reporter who authored an erroneous article placing former Alabama basketball walk-on Kai Spears at the scene of a deadly 2023 shooting apologized to the plaintiff from the witness stand Friday as his testimony moved into its second day.

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The eight-person jury also heard fresh testimony about the morning of the shooting from the Alabama men's basketball manager who was actually at the scene and somehow mistaken for Spears.

The story in question, as Patch previously reported, was written by Times sportswriter Billy Witz on March 15, 2023, and published ahead of the Crimson Tide's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament opener against Texas A&M Corpus Christi the following day at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

Witz's story falsely reported that Spears had been in the passenger seat of Crimson Tide basketball star Brandon Miller's car when the vehicle was struck by two bullets during a shootout on Grace Street that left 23-year-old Jamea Harris dead in the early morning hours on Jan. 15, 2023.

Miller's involvement, once it was revealed during the preliminary hearing in late February 2023 for the two shooting suspects, turned the story from one of regional interest into the biggest story in college sports at the time.

Miller, who eventually settled a wrongful death civil lawsuit with Harris' family for an undisclosed amount, has cooperated with police by all accounts and was never charged or mentioned as a potential suspect.

Patch also reported when Witz took the witness stand on Thursday, putting himself in the same room as Spears for the first time since the article was published following their brief interaction during an open locker room media availability where Spears told the reporter he couldn't comment.

This exchange occurred after Witz asked Spears what it was like being in Miller's vehicle during the tragic shooting.

UA Deputy Director of Athletics for External Affairs Jessica Paré testified Monday that, in the wake of the shooting and the maelstrom of national attention, Crimson Tide players had received media training and were instructed not to comment due to the ongoing nature of the criminal investigation.

West Virginia attorney Stephen P. New led the cross-examination of Witz on behalf of Spears' legal team Friday and began the day's proceedings by asking the reporter if he had anything he would like to say to his client, who was sitting a few feet away.

"I'd like to apologize for misidentifying you in the car," Witz told Spears from the witness stand. "That was a mistake and I want to own up to it and say 'I'm sorry.'"

Following this brief exchange, the jury was played one of Witz's video depositions where he said under oath that he had never been made aware of any journalistic standards regarding anonymous sources during his career, including during his stretch with the New York Times.

"I believe we followed the guidelines and standards," Witz said, echoing his previous testimony when he expressed confidence that the information provided by his confidential source was correct.

He also said the lone anonymous source who informed him Spears had been in the vehicle with Miller did not purport to have firsthand knowledge of the case.

It was also a crucial piece of testimony when he said this primary source, known during the proceedings as "Source A," had at least one confidential source of their own — a source whom Witz testified was unavailable and one who never corroborated the information that would eventually inform Witz's story about Spears.

What's more, Witz reiterated that a soft deadline had been set for him to write a story about the Alabama basketball team to be published on the eve of its NCAA Tournament opener, saying that the story's intended focus would center on how the Crimson Tide was coping with the tragic shooting while also trying to win a national championship.

New also asked Witz if anyone involved in the story, including sources, had verified that Spears had been in Miller's car during the shooting, to which the reporter said they did not.

"We believed the information we had was accurate, so we published it," he said.

The cross-examination then briefly asked Witz's about his shorthand notes in his reporter's notebook, which ranged from Neil Young/Lynyrd Skynyrd and the message behind the song "Sweet Home Alabama," to mentions of a "culture war" and disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos.

Witz insisted these were nothing more than musings and topics "rolling around" in his mind as he worked to flesh out the story that would eventually become the article about Spears being in the vehicle with Miller during the shooting.

Fresh Insight Into Shooting

The week of proceedings wrapped up with the jury hearing close to half an hour of a video deposition taken of former Crimson Tide basketball manager Cooper Lee — the Jackson, Mississippi native who was in the front passenger seat of Miller's car during the Grace Street shooting in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 2023.

Lee said under oath that during his time as a basketball manager from 2023-2024, he developed friendly working relationships with Crimson Tide players like Spears and Miller.

He also gave insight into the team he was around, which included what appears to be the first public mention that Tide basketball players would regularly rent out the VIP section at Twelve25 — a popular club, bar and restaurant on the Tuscaloosa Strip.

As Patch has extensively reported, Twelve25 is where former Tide basketball players Darius Miles and Jaden Bradley, along with convicted murderer Michael Lynn Davis, had been celebrating Alabama's blowout win over LSU.

Lee testified that while Bradley, who transferred to Arizona the following season, was quiet and did not speak with the team's managers, Miller and Spears were more cordial and engaging with support staff.

He also said he knew Miles and offered a positive opinion about the former player who has been incarcerated in the Tuscaloosa County Jail since the morning of the shooting as he awaits trial.

Miles was charged with capital murder after allegedly providing the gun used by Davis in the shooting.

ALSO READ: New Petition Calls For Release Of Former Tide Basketball Player Charged With Capital Murder

"[Miles] was loud, in a good way," Lee recalled. "Funny, always brought light to a room ... would try to cheer people up."

Lee then said he "knew of" Davis, but didn't have any kind of relationship with him.

Patch reported in May 2025 when a Tuscaloosa County jury found Davis guilty of capital murder after a weeklong trial and a surprisingly brief deliberation period.

Known by his nickname "Buzz," Davis was sentenced by Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Alabama Department of Corrections records show Davis is presently serving out his sentence at the William C. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer.

Nevertheless, Lee recalled how Spears and Miller, who were part of the same freshman class, were friends and "talked all the time."

He then testified how Spears, who was also friends with Miles, was regularly with members of the team in the VIP section at Twelve25.

"I didn't hang out with the team all that much outside of the basketball facility," Lee said, going on to mention that he would sometimes join Tide basketball players at Twelve25 when other managers were present.

The night before the morning of the shooting, though, Lee said he and some friends from his fraternity went to Moe's Original BBQ on University Boulevard — a popular restaurant positioned on the other side of 21st Avenue from the Richard Shelby Federal Building and Courthouse where the defamation trial is being held.

Lee testified that Miller messaged him before the Crimson Tide superstar and Spears joined Lee and his friends at Moe's.

Lee said that around 1 a.m., Miller asked him if he wanted to leave and told Lee he would drive him to Miller's apartment, where Lee's friend would then pick him up to take him home.

Spears reportedly stayed at Moe's with friends who were visiting from out of town.

After getting into Miller's Dodge Charger, Lee said he wasn't paying much attention as he played on his phone but did remember that Miles called Miller.

Patch previously reported that Miles, who did not have a car or even a driver's license, also rode with Miller earlier in the evening following the game.

Miller then parked the car on Grace Street, which came just a few minutes after Miles had texted him to bring him his gun — allegedly after seeing Cedric Johnson, the boyfriend of Jamea Harris, handed a gun during a brief verbal altercation with Davis near The Strip as Johnson sat behind the wheel of his girlfriend's Jeep.

Not paying much attention in the moment, Lee said Davis and Miles came up to Miller's car before going into the back seat to get something.

Lee said the back passenger side door was then shut and the two men walked away.

Then gunshots rang out.

Lee testified that the Miller's car was "inadvertently" hit twice by gunfire from Davis, who Lee said appeared to be aiming at the black Jeep parked behind Miller's car.

Patch reported that, prior to the fatal shooting, the black Jeep could be seen from multiple security cameras pulling out onto University Boulevard after the verbal altercation and circling back to Grace Street before the headlights of the Jeep were cut off as Johnson pulled the vehicle in behind Miller's car.

Davis can then be seen running up to the driver's side of the Jeep from behind the vehicle before he and Johnson begin to exchange gunfire.

Davis was struck twice during the exchange, while a single shot is believed to have killed Harris almost instantly.

The jury was shown still photos of Miller's vehicle in a Tuscaloosa Police Department impound lot, with two bullet holes clearly visible in the windshield.

"I was really freaking out," Lee said during his deposition.

After colliding with the Jeep as the vehicles tried to make swift exits from Grace Street, Miller turned right out onto University Boulevard, while the Jeep turned left and eventually stopped at the Walk of Champions after Johnson spotted a University of Alabama police officer.

Lee said Miller then drove a short distance before pulling up next to Innisfree to check the damage to his vehicle.

Lee went on to say he called his roommate before Miller drove him home. Still, Lee got in his own vehicle and drove to Miller's apartment, where he talked for a brief time with Spears about the shooting.

This is where proceedings ended for the week, with the jury set to hear the rest of Lee's deposition Monday morning in the the Richard Shelby Federal Building and Courthouse.

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