Ahmaud Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery Sr., remember their son as a vibrant and well-mannered young man, who had his …
Ahmaud Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery Sr., remember their son as a vibrant and well-mannered young man, who had his entire life ahead of him.
They said that their 25-year-old went for a routine afternoon jog on Sunday, Feb.23, through the Satilla Shores, Georgia, neighborhood that’s located a town over from where he lived in Brunswick.
After seeing Ahmaud Arbery, who is African American, Gregory McMichael alerted his son Travis McMichael, and the two men, both white, set off to confront Arbery, police said.
Armed with a shotgun and a .357 magnum handgun, respectively, and the Georgia laws — which allow civilians to pursue a suspect if they see a crime being committed and make an arrest until law enforcement arrive — the father and son hopped into their white pick-up truck and went after Ahmaud Arbery, according to police reports.
Ahmaud Arbery was shot and declared dead on the scene by the coroner.
After the shooting Gregory McMichael told police that there were „several break-ins“ in the neighborhood and that he saw the „suspect,“ according to police reports.
During the following months, neither of the McMichaels were arrested or charged with, or in connection to, Ahmaud Arbery’s death.
But on May 5, a 28-second cellphone video leaked onto social media. The video showed Arbery getting shot and killed
Thirty-six hours later, officials with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) secured warrants to arrest the McMichaels, who are presently booked in a Glynn County jail.
Here’s how the case developed:
Officers with the Glynn County Police Department had been called to the Satilla Shores neighborhood three times since October 2019 for reports of a trespasser on the construction site of a new home being built nearby the McMichaels‘ house, according to police reports obtained by ABC News.
On Feb.11, the owner of the construction site told police that the same „unknown black male“ kept trespassing on his property, which has surveillance cameras, according to a police report. That alleged suspect was described as a „lighter skinned black male, slender build“ who was between 5’10 and 6′ and whose arms may have been covered in tattoos and has 3″ to 4″ „twists/dreads hairstyle,“ the report read.
Ahmaud Arbery was 6 feet with a darker skin complexion and a low faded haircut.
Cooper-Jones said she never had to worry about her son when he went out for his daily jog because he didn’t bother anyone.
But when police came to her home on Feb.
