Good news: Ahmaud Arbery's murderers have been sentenced to life in prison.
—Erika
A Georgia judge sentenced Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan to life in prison on Friday for the 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man running through their mostly white neighborhood in the southern state.
The McMichaels, a father and son, will spend the rest of their lives in prison but Judge Timothy Walmsley ruled that Bryan could seek parole after 30 years, the minimum sentence allowed for murder under state law.
Arbery’s family had made powerful victim impact statements, asking the judge to show no leniency.
Arbery’s sister recalled her brother’s humor, describing him as a positive thinker with a big personality.
Weeping, she told the judge her brother had dark skin “that glistened in the sunlight” and “thick, curly hair and an athletic build”, factors that made him a target to the men who pursued him.
“These are the qualities that made these men assume that Ahmaud was a dangerous criminal and chase him with guns drawn. To me, those qualities reflect a young man full of life and energy who looked like me and the people I loved,” Jasmine Arbery said.
Murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison under Georgia law unless prosecutors seek the death penalty, which they opted against for Arbery’s killing.
For Walmsley, the main decision was whether to grant Greg McMichael, 66, and Travis McMichael, 35, and their neighbor, Bryan, 52, a chance to earn parole.
Arbery’s mother asked for the maximum sentence, saying she suffered a personal, intense loss made worse by a trial where the men’s defense was that Arbery made bad choices that led to his death.
“This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity or mistaken fact. They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community. They chose to treat him differently than other people who frequently visited their community,” Wanda Cooper-Jones said. “And when they couldn’t sufficiently scare or intimidate him, they killed him.”
"They have no remorse and do not deserve any leniency," Arbery's mother said of her son's killers.
