All 3 suspects indicted in Arbery death
ATLANTA — A grand jury has indicted the three suspects accused in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, the Cobb County district attorney said Wednesday.
Travis and Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan were previously charged with felony murder in the death of Arbery, who was shot in February in a Brunswick neighborhood. All three are being held without bond in the Glynn County jail.
The indictment returned Wednesday formally charges each of the three defendants with nine counts: malice murder; felony murder (four counts); aggravated assault (two counts); false imprisonment; and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment, the DA said.
While most grand juries have not been in session because of the coronavirus, a judicial order allowed for those grand juries impaneled before the crisis to reconvene, Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes said.
Holmes announced the indictment Wednesday afternoon in front of the Glynn courthouse.
Arbery died Feb. 23, but initially no charges were filed in the case. That changed weeks later, when cellphone video of the shooting went viral. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to investigate in May and the McMichaelses, a father and son, were quickly charged. Charges against Bryan were announced the following week.
Holmes was later appointed to prosecute the case, after other district attorneys in the area recused themselves.
Greg McMichael, a retired investigator with the Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney’s office, told police Feb. 23, the day of the shooting, that he believed Arbery matched the description of a burglary suspect. When he saw Arbery running in their neighborhood just south of Brunswick, McMichael and his son armed themselves and followed him in their truck.
Prosecutors say Bryan joined their pursuit, eventually trapping Arbery, who tried to run past the McMichael’s pickup but was confronted by Travis McMichael. The two men briefly tussled before Travis McMichael fired three shots at Arbery, who was unarmed, authorities say. Family and friends say the avid runner was out for a jog.
Earlier this month, a judge found probable cause against all three suspects. The three are all represented by different defense attorneys.