Outside judge named to preside over cases in Arbery slaying

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A judge from outside the community where Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot has been appointed to preside over trial proceedings of the two men charged with Arbery’s murder, including one defendant with close ties to law enforcement.

Court documents filed in Glynn County show that Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley was appointed to the case after all five judges in the legal circuit where Arbery was killed recused themselves. Walmsley is based in Savannah, about 70 miles north of where the slaying occurred outside the port city of Brunswick.

Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 after a pursuit by a white father and son. One of the accused, Gregory McMichael, worked as an investigator for the local district attorney for more than two decades.