Ahmaud Arbery’s mom makes emotional plea for judge to reject suspects’ bail since they ‘did not allow my son to go home’
THE father-son duo charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery — and the man who police say filmed it — pleaded not guilty in a Friday court appearance before the victim's distraught parents delivered emotional impact statements.
, were in the killing of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man while jogging in in February.
The two appeared in court via videolink from prison, where they , which included felony murder.
William Bryan, the man who filmed Arbery's shooting, also pleaded not guilty before the court heard arguments for and against releasing him on bail. The judge ultimately denied the bond application, citing flight risk concerns and a new investigation into sex crime allegations against Bryan. The court heard that the Camden County Sheriff's Office referred the matter to the GA Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday. In a social media post, a GBI spokesperson said the sex crimes investigation was "active and ongoing".
Arbery's father Marcus Arbery and mother Wanda Cooper-Jones were both present at the bail hearing and delivered powerful impact statements.
Mr Arbery said Bryan "acted as my son's judge, jury and executioner" and pleaded for him to remain behind bars.
"I suffered the deepest loss," Mr Arbery said through a written statement read out by his attorney.
Ms Cooper-Jones spoke directly to the judge.
The defendant's son, Preston Bryan, testified that he believes his father is not a risk of committing a new felony if granted bail. He said his father has lost his home, is currently unemployed and doesn't have anything valuable to offer as bond, when pressed by prosecutors. But family and friends are willing and able to put up bond for Bryan, his son said.
Earlier, Bryan's attorney said he won't force his client to wear a mask from prison while appearing in court but objected to the one S Lee Merritt — the attorney for Arbery's family — was wearing, which read: "."
“In this courtroom, there should not be any political statements being made," he said.
But Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley objected, saying: I do not see masks as being a political statement. I wore a mask when I took the bench."
The McMichaels were arrested in May, months after the shooting, — "to stop a riot."
Arbery was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood earlier this year when he was shot down.
No arrests were made until May, after the video was widely shared on social media, pushing it into the national spotlight and prompting widespread outrage.
The men had told police they pursued Arbery after spotting him running in their neighborhood, according to the initial police report.
The indictments came after:
- Jogger Ahmaud Arbery was by two white gunmen
- The McMichaels claim they thought Arbery was a
- on May 5, prompting mass outrage
- His family says and demand justice
- Gregory and Travis are arrested on May 7
They said they thought Arbery matched the description of someone caught on a security camera committing recent break-ins in the area.
The McMichaels armed themselves with guns before getting in a truck to pursue him, the police report said.
Gregory said the jogger "violently" attacked his son, and the two fought over Travis' shotgun, with Travis shooting Arbery twice.
Police said that no reports of such break-ins were made in the neighborhood leading up to Arbery’s death.
The video shows a black man running at a jogging pace, with the McMichaels’ truck stopped in the road ahead of him.
One of the McMichaels is standing in the pickup’s bed and the other beside the open driver’s side door.
Arbery attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving just beyond the truck, briefly outside the camera’s view.
A gunshot can be heard and the video shows the runner grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle.
A second shot can be heard, and the runner can be seen punching the man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range, and Arbery staggers a few feet and falls face down.
Some of the encounter was apparently recorded in two 911 calls, with a dispatcher trying to understand the problem.
“There’s a black male running down the street,” a caller is heard saying.
The dispatcher responds: “I just need to know what he was doing wrong.”
In a second call six minutes later, someone can be heard yelling, “Stop. ... Dammit. Stop.” Then, after a pause, “Travis!”
The McMichaels and Bryan were indicted in June by a grand jury.
Lawyers for the McMichaels have cautioned against a rush to judgment and have said the full story will come out in court, while a lawyer for Bryan has maintained that his client was merely a witness.
TMZ reported an investigator said Bryan as he lay on the ground before police arrived.
Bryan told cops he heard the younger McMichael call Arbery the racial slur after he shot him.
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Gregory retired in 2019 after more than two decades as an investigator for the local prosecutor’s office.
Because of those ties, the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from his case, and two outside prosecutors assigned the case have also stepped aside.
Local prosecutors' handling of the case has prompted an investigation after it took months for the McMichaels to be arrested.