Last Updated on January 7, 2022 by BVN
Breanna Reeves | Black Voice News
After nearly two years since 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was stalked and murdered by three men in Glynn County, Georgia, on Friday, January 7, a judge sentenced them to life in prison.
Last November, Travis McMichael, 35, his father, Gregory McMichael, 68, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, were convicted of murdering Arbery.
The McMichaels have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bryan was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole by which he is only eligible after serving at least 30 years.
After delivering the sentence, presiding Judge Timothy Walmsley simulated what Arbery experienced as he was chased for approximately five minutes while he ran from the men. Judge Walmsley paused in court for one full minute to illustrate a fraction of the time Ahmaud spent running for his life.
On February 23, 2020, the three men chased down Arbery in trucks while Arbery was out jogging. Travis McMichael ultimately shot Arbery three times and Bryan recorded the violence on his cellphone camera, which was later circulated online.
Before the verdict was handed down, members of Ahmaud’s family delivered victim impact statements in court. Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence for the crimes.
“I made a promise to you the day I laid you to rest,” Cooper-Jones said in court, according to CNN. “I told you I love you, and someday, somehow, I would get you justice.”
Following today’s sentence, the men also face hate crime charges and a federal indictment that was issued in April which charges the men with attempted kidnapping and the use of a firearm during a violent crime as it applies to the McMichaels who were both armed at the time.
The jury selection for the federal case is scheduled to begin on February 7.