Just days after Alabama’s Kai Spears filed a lawsuit against The New York Times for reporting he was at a deadly shooting with teammates, his name might be cleared.
A member of the Alabama men’s basketball team staff admitted to the outlet that he, not Spears, was there.
“I can confirm that I was the passenger in Brandon Miller’s car at the time of the shooting,” Cooper Lee, 21, wrote in an email to the Times.
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The lawsuit also says Lee was the passenger in Brandon Miller’s car the morning of Jan. 15.
An earlier report said Spears was at the site of the fatal shooting with teammates Miller, Darius Miles and Jaden Bradley. Michael Davis allegedly fired the shot that killed 23-year-old Jamea Harris.
“I was not anywhere near the scene or vicinity at the time that took place,” Spears told The Washington Post, which reported about the lawsuit Wednesday. “I don’t think it is a mistaken identity. I just think they didn’t do their due diligence.”
With the new information regarding the shooting, the Times says it will “correct its coverage.”
“We have a longstanding policy of correcting errors,” Times spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement. “Based on information in the affidavit and new reporting by our newsroom, we believe our original story was not accurate and plan to append an editor’s note to the story.”
Miller, a likely top five pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, was enveloped in controversy the remainder of the season after the shooting because he was not charged nor was he punished by the school. However, his car was hit by stray bullets.
Bradley was not charged either. Miles and Davis were both charged with capital murder.