Suspect in shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery was involved in a previous investigation of him, recused prosecutor says

This Thursday, May 7, 2020, photo provided by the Glynn County Detention Center, in Georgia, shows Gregory McMichael. McMichael and his son Travis McMichael have been charged with murder in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, whom they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood.
This Thursday, May 7, 2020, photo provided by the Glynn County Detention Center, in Georgia, shows Gregory McMichael. McMichael and his son Travis McMichael have been charged with murder in the February shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, whom they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood.(AP)

A suspect accused in the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black jogger killed in a Georgia suburb more than two months ago, was involved in a previous prosecution of the 26-year-old runner back when he worked for the local district attorney’s office.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael, were denied bond and were being held at the Glynn County Detention Center on Saturday. They’re facing charges of murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s killing on February 23.

Since then, two prosecutors overseeing the case have recused themselves — including the District Attorney in Brunswick. She cited a previous connection to the older McMichael, who used to work as a police officer and then at the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office until his retirement.

In an April 7 letter, Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill also recused himself, writing that his son and Gregory McMichael helped with an earlier prosecution of Arbery when they both worked for the Brunswick office.

Barnhill’s letter, obtained by the New York Times, did not specify what the prior prosecution was for or when it took place.

According to a report in The Brunswick News, Arbery was indicted for allegedly bringing a gun to a 2013 high school basketball game when he was 19.

Family attorney Lee Merritt has acknowledged Arbery’s 2018 arrest on shoplifting charges, CNN reported. But any reference to “alleged conduct from high school or shoplifting is absurd and has nothing to do with his murder,” Merritt said.

“We’ve been here before, whether it’s Tamir Rice or Trayvon Martin," said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Arbery’s father. “When they kill our children, they then try to assassinate their character and I know they’re going to do that with Ahmaud Arbery.”

The delay in arrests sparked backlash in Arbery’s Georgia community, which quickly spread nationwide after cellphone video of the incident was shared online. More than two months after the February shooting, both McMichales were taken into custody on murder and assault charges.


Gregory McMichael told police at the time there had been several recent break-ins in the neighborhood and that he saw the person he suspected “hauling ass” down Satilla Drive toward Burford Drive, according to the Glynn County Police Department incident report.


From there, the father and son, both armed with firearms, hopped in a truck and chased down Arbery.


Gregory claimed Arbery “violently” attacked his son and the pair “fought over a shotgun” before Travis pulled the trigger, twice.


The case has since been referred to District Attorney Thomas Durden, based in Hinesville 70 miles away, who requested assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The agency’s director, Vic Reynolds, during a press conference Friday told reporters that his agents were prepared to arrest the McMichaels within 36 hours of receiving the case.


“I can’t answer what another agency did or didn’t see,” Reynolds said.


“But I can tell you that based on our involvement in this case, considering the fact that we hit the ground running Wednesday morning, within 36 hours we had secured warrants for two individuals for felony murder. I think that speaks volumes for itself and that the probable cause was clear to our agents pretty quickly.”

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