What autopsy has revealed about the death of jogger Ahmaud Arbery

Ahmaud Arbery, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael
Ahmaud Arbery, Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael(WRDW)
Published: May 12, 2020 at 5:29 AM EDT
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Tuesday, May 12, 2020

An autopsy sheds light on the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a jogger with ties to the CSRA who was shot dead Feb. 23 outside Brunswick.

The autopsy reveals Arbery suffered two gunshot wounds in his chest.

He also had a gunshot graze wound on the inside of one of his wrists. The report shows Arbery did not have drugs or alcohol in his system.

OTHER NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CASE:

The fatal wounds to Arbery — who has family and friends in the CSRA and is buried outside Waynesboro — were inflicted during an altercation after he was followed by father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael in their pickup. They have told police they thought he was a burglar. They claim Travis McMichael shot Arbery in self-defense.

Many have expressed frustration with the investigation, questioning whether the arrests took so long because the suspects are white and the victim black. The killing happened in a subdivision bordered by marsh just outside Brunswick, a working-class port city of about 16,000 that also serves as a gateway to beach resorts on neighboring islands.

The McMichaels weren't arrested until last week after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault.

It’s unknown whether the McMichaels have attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

With courts largely closed because of the coronavirus, getting an indictment needed to try the men on murder charges will take a while. The soonest a grand jury can convene to hear the case will be mid-June.

A new prosecutor

Meanwhile, the case is now on its fourth prosecutor. Joyette Holmes -- a district attorney in metro Atlanta, was just appointed by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.

Holmes, the Cobb County district attorney, takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state's attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as "this case has grown in size and magnitude."

Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement: "We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate."

She said the department is also considering Carr's request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to "forward to federal authorities any information that he has."

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup's bed and another beside the open driver's side door.

The running man attempts to the pickup on the enger side, moving briefly outside the camera's view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

Death threats

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he's received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery's shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

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