Alabama basketball manager was with Brandon Miller at shooting scene, lawsuit against NY Times says

Published Jun. 3, 2023 10:59 a.m. ET
Associated Press

Alabama student manager Cooper Lee was identified in a lawsuit against The New York Times as the basketball team member who was in Brandon Miller's vehicle minutes before the Jan. 15 shooting that killed 23-year-old Jamea Harris, according to the Times.

Freshman walk-on Kai Spears filed the lawsuit against the Times after it published a report, citing a person familiar with the investigation, that indicated Spears was the passenger in Miller's vehicle. The Times reported that the person had spoken "on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.”

On Friday, the Times acknowledged its error and reported that Lee was named in Spears' lawsuit.

Lee declined to comment beyond saying he was in the vehicle and Spears was not, according to the Times.

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Neither Lee or Miller are accused of wrongdoing.

The university, Spears and his family had told The Associated Press in March that the report was inaccurate and the family hired an attorney.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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