The courtroom was already full almost half an hour before the second day of trial officially began. At 9 a.m. Judge Prewitt told the courtroom that what they would see next would be graphic and if anyone wanted to leave – “you need to do it now.”
Shortly after, jurors made their way one by one – Davis never broke eye contact, instead he watched as the jurors made their way to their seats.
At the end of this murder trial the jurors will decide whether Micheal Davis is guilty for the shooting that killed Jamea Harris on Jan. 14, 2023.
On Wednesday, jurors heard five different witness testimonies.
The prosecution called these witnesses to the stand in the order that follows.
Witness testimony began with questions from the prosecution. Once the state finished their questions, the defense began their cross-examination.
Witness #1
Dr. David Rydzewski was the first witness the prosecution called to the stand Wednesday morning.
Prior to sharing Jamea Harris’ autopsy results, Rydzewski shared he is the Senior Medical Examiner at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. The pathologist noted he has performed nearly 3,000 autopsies during his career.
“The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck,” Rydzewski said.
Multiple graphic images of Harris’ autopsy were shown.
Harris’ mother wept as photo after photo was displayed to the jury on a large pull-down projector screen.
Depending on the type of gun used in the shooting, Rydzewski testified the gun would have been fired between 18-20 inches away from Harris.
“If shots were fired far away, you don’t see any gunpowder or soot,” Rydzewski testified.
However, the medical examiner noted there was gun powder residue left behind where Harris was struck by a bullet.
Almost 20 minutes went by before the defense began their cross-examination.
“The autopsy doesn’t say who did it?” John Robbins, who is representing Micheal Davis, asked.
“Correct,” the state medical examiner responded.
Robbins went on to ask about autopsy protocols for checking blood alcohol content. Rydzewski testified Harris BAC was 0.129, but the eye fluid in the vitrious humorous was 0.164 g/100 milliliters.
“Vitreous is in a protected environment away from the blood, we do this to double check the BAC levels,” Rydzewski testified.
Prior to this witness testimony, Robbins told Judge Prewitt – prior to the jury coming in – that the autopsy does not align with Asia Humphrey’s testimony on Tuesday.
“That contradicts Humphrey’s statement they were not drinking,” Robbins told the judge.
Witness #2
The prosecution called on Cedric Johnson as their next witness.
“’Don’t you know who I am? I’m Buzz and I whack people,’” Johnson testified.
That’s what Johnson testified that Michael Davis told him on the night Jamea Harris was shot. But, it came 30 minutes into a long list of questions from the prosecution.
The tone of the questioning shifted after one of the prosecutors on the case, Paula Whitley, asked the following :
“Do you remember this gentleman at 1225?”
Whitley pointed across the room to Michael Davis, also known as Buzz.
“No,” Johnson answered.
It was not until later that evening that Johnson noticed Davis dancing near a roadway near the bar 1225 on the strip. It was during this moment of the testimony that Johnson recalled hearing his girlfriend say “’What he doing? Uh uh, we good.’”
Davis approached the Jeep, Johnson rolled down the window and according to his account – the two men shared this verbal exchange:
Johnson : “They good.”
Davis: “What that mean?”
Johnson: “That’s my baby momma, what that means is keep walking.”
Davis: “Don’t you know who I am? I’m Buzz, and I whack people.”
Johnson was in the backseat of Harris’ jeep when that conversation happened. Harris was in the passenger seat, and Humphrey was in the driver seat.
“After he said he whacked folks, Jamea slid me my gun,” Johnson testified.
“Did you point the gun or make threats with the gun?” Whitley asked.
“No,” Johnson responded.
Whitley then redirected her questions to why they were parked on Grace Street, what feelings Johnson had in response to Davis’ alleged actions. Johnson recalled feeling “disrespected,” and “ready to fight.”
It was around that time Johnson said he was ready to leave and head back home to Birmingham, but things took a fatal turn.
“[Davis] ran up to the Jeep, pointed a gun in and shot – and I shot back at him,” Johnson testified. “He shot the whole clip, it was a lot of shots.”
During opening statements on Tuesday, the prosecution noted a total of 8 rounds were fired back to back.
“Then I heard Asia scream,” Johnson said. “I looked at my baby momma and she…”
Johnson stopped. The microphone on the witness stand amplified the silence. Jamea Harris’ boyfriend and father of their 7-year-old son began taking slow, shaky, deep breaths before he describing to the court what happened next.
“I just saw blood,” Johnson said. “When I put the car in drive, her body just fell over.”
Unsure of where to go, what to do, or who to call – Johnson said he began driving. That’s when he found witness #3.
Witness #3
The prosecution called University of Alabama police officer, Marshall Wade to the stand.
Wade and Johnson’s encounter was caught on the officer’s body camera. That footage was played in the courtroom. The first few seconds of the video started in silence – the prosecution asked Wade if that’s normal to which he said yes.
The officer testified that when a body cam is turned on and begins recording, it takes a few seconds before audio is captured.
Yet the sounds of silence quickly turned into screams of agony,
“My baby momma dead man.”
The jury heard those five words repeat over and over again on the body cam footage.
“He was in panic and distress,” Wade said.
Wade was parked in front of the Walk of Champions – less than a 15 minute walk away from where surveillance video shows the shooting happened. The UAPD officer was on-duty when Johnson cried out for help.
Wade called in for medical help and extra back up as he gathered first aid supplies from his police car. You could still hear the panic, shock and fear in Johnson’s voice as he kept crying out “my baby momma is dead.”
The officer asked Johnson if there was a gun in the Jeep. Johnson told Wade yes.
“Did you ask him what happened?” the prosecutor said.
“Objection, hearsay,” Robbins announced to the judge.
The prosecution re-directed their question and asked Wade if he talked with witnesses and did he know how the shooting happened. Wade testified he did speak with witnesses, and witnesses were the ones who told him why shots were fired.
The prosecution rests. Cross-examination begins.
John Robbins, for the defense, asked “Did you locate a firearm in the jeep?”
Marshall Wade: “No.”
John Robbins: “Did you check the vehicle for a firearm?
Marshall Wade: “yes”
John Robbins: “Did you recover a revolver?”
Marshall Wade: “I did not.”
Before the defense could finish their cross-examination, Judge Prewitt interrupted.
“Sometimes things come up and we need to deal with it in private, this is one of those times,” Prewitt told the Jury.
The jury was sent on a 10 minute break.
“I received a message that this officer was here yesterday and was speaking with one of the jurors,” Robbins told the Judge.
The officer remained present at the witness stand for this conversation.
“I did not see this, I was told this,” Robbins said.
The officer said he did not talk about the case with the juror, but instead said it was an exchange of greetings when the juror walked by. The judge and officer identified the juror while the jury was on break.
The officer was excused from the witness stand. Before the jury returned, Judge Prewitt and Robbins had another conversation about the defense’s cross-examination with Jamea Harris’ boyfriend.
“Let’s start back to Jan. 14, 2023, at that time you were a member of the West End Money Gang?” Robbins had asked the witness.
“Incorrect,” Johnson said.
This is when Johnson’s demeanor begins to shift. He appears nervous and as the defense continues their questions, Johnson appeared more agitated, overwhelmed, and tired.
Yet, it was not Robbins asking Harris’ boyfriend if he was part of a gang the judge was referring to. It was a question about paraphernalia that he said was unrelated to the case.
John Robbins: “The police found a backpack in the Jeep is that yours?”
Cedric Johnson: “Yes.”
John Robbins: “There was a digital scale is that yours?”
Cedric Johnson: “Yes”
Judge Prewitt stops the questioning by asking the defense and prosecution to approach the stand. The judge told the jury to disregard the last question.
Witness #4
The Prosecution called Jaden Bradley to the stand.
Bradley is a former University of Alabama basketball player. Bradley testified he had a close friendship with Darrius Miles – another former UA basketball player who, like his friend Davis, faces capital murder charges.
Bradley did not recall many details of Jan 14, 2023. However, he did testify that he was unaware that Davis had a gun or asked Brandon Miller to bring a gun.
“All I heard was who you talking to,” Bradley testified that those are the words he heard Davis say to Johnson.
Witness #5
The last witness the prosecution called on Wednesday was Skylar Essex.
Essex is the girlfriend of Darius Miles at the time of the shooting and present day.
Essex testified she was there the night of the shooting and when shots were fired she was hiding by a red dumpster near the strip.
“I couldn’t tell who shot first, but I saw a muzzle flash from inside the Jeep.”
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