3 get life in prison for Ahmaud Arbery’s 2020 murder
>>GEORGIA: The three white men convicted of murder in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery while he jogged through their quiet Georgia neighbourhood almost two years ago were sentenced on Friday to life in prison, though one of them will be able to seek parole after 30 years.
Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and their neighbour William “Roddie” Bryan were found guilty in November of felony murder and other charges following a two-week jury trial, which included video of the black jogger’s shooting that was captured by Bryan.
Georgia Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley, who was required by state law to give the men life behind bars, denied a request by the McMichaels to allow them the possibility of eventual parole. Judge Walmsley said Bryan can seek parole after 30 years. Prosecutors chose not to pursue the death penalty.
Arbery was “hunted down and shot” in a “chilling, truly disturbing scene”, the judge said just before handing down the sentence. “He was killed because individuals here in this courtroom took the law into their own hands.”
Travis McMichael fired three blasts from a shotgun in a struggle with Arbery after the chase, while Greg McMichael joined his son in the pursuit. Bryan helped trap Arbery with his truck.
The three men didn’t react to the judge’s decision. After the sentencing, prosecutors asked the judge to bar the men from making any money on book or movie deals related to their case, unless that money is directed to a fund for the Arbery family. Judge Walmsley said he’d rule later on the request.
Evidence presented at trial showed that on Feb 23, 2020, Arbery had wandered through an unsecured home under construction for a few minutes while jogging through the neighbourhood, which he’d also done on previous occasions. Prosecutors said the 25-yearold, who was unarmed and didn’t take anything from the site, was murdered “because he was a black man running down the street”, echoing a 911 call one of the defendants made.
Lawyers for the killers had claimed at trial the shooting of Arbery was in self-defence, after he resisted an attempted citizen’s arrest under state law. But prosecutors argued successfully that the defence was untenable because it was the defendants who initiated the conflict by chasing him down with their trucks and cornering him.
Judge Walmsley said Arbery must have felt “terror” during the five minutes he was chased through the neighbourhood. “It’s a tragedy on many levels,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Arbery’s parents and sister appeared in court to request the men be denied any chance of parole.
Arbery was killed “in broad daylight” while he was “doing what he loved more than anything — running,” his father Marcus Arbery said. “That’s when he felt most alive, most free — and they took all that from him,” he said. “When I close my eyes, I see his execution in my mind, over and over. I’ll see that for the rest of my life.”