The three white men who chased down and murdered Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020, were sentenced to life in prison on Friday (January 7).
Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and William “Roddie” Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
During the sentencing, Ahmaud’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
The man who killed my son has sat in this courtroom every single day next to his father. I’ll never get that chance to sit next to my son ever again. Not at a general table. Not at a holiday. And not at a wedding.
His killers should spend the rest of their lives thinking about what they did and what they took from us and they should do it behind bars because me and my family have to do it for the rest of their life.
Via NBC News:
Before announcing the sentences, the judge asked the courtroom sit in silence for one minute to illustrate, he said, a fraction of the estimated time Arbery was running in terror from the men before he was killed.
“He left his home to go for a run and ended up running for his life,” the judge said.
The sentences are in line with the request from prosecutor Linda Dunikoski, who recommended that Bryan get a chance at parole and that the McMichaels be denied that possibility. Dunikoski said the father and son showed no remorse or empathy for “the trapped and terrified Ahmaud Arbery.”
Justice has been served.
My love and continued prayers to Ahmaud Arbery’s family.
