Three Georgia men who were found guilty of killing Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020 were sentenced on Friday to life in prison, with only one of them getting the possibility of parole.
Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, 64 and 34, were sentenced to life without parole for felony murder, plus 20 years for various charges, including aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
However, Judge Timothy Walmsley said William Bryan Jr.’s comments and actions before and after Arbery’s slaying differed from the McMichaels, leading him to sentence Bryan to life with the possibility of parole after 30 years.
Before handing down the sentences, Judge Walmsley had a one-minute moment of silence — which he said signified the “fraction of time” Arbery, 25, ran for his life the day he was gunned down.
“I kept coming back to the terror that must’ve been through the mind of the man running through Satilla Shores,” the judge said.
In November, a jury convicted father and son, Travis McMichael, 34, Gregory McMichael, 64, along with William Bryan Jr., 50, of killing Arbery, 25, as he jogged in Brunswick.
On February 23, 2020, Travis and Gregory McMichael chased down Arbery before the son shot Arbery three times at close range with a shotgun.
The elder McMichael — who was an investigator for the Glynn County District Attorney’s office for 24 years — claimed that Arbery resembled a suspect in a series of recent burglaries in the Satilla Shores neighborhood. However, police said the only recent break-in was on January 1 of that year, when a 9mm pistol was reportedly stolen from an unlocked truck outside the McMichaels’ home.
Bryan, who filmed the fatal encounter, claimed he was only a witness — but he used his vehicle to confine and detain Arbery in the minutes leading up to his murder.
Prosecutors, who did not pursue the death penalty, are seeking life without parole — but it is up to Judge Walmsley whether the McMichaels and Bryan will get parole. If so, they will not be eligible for parole for 30 years under state law, CNN reported.
The three convicted killers are still awaiting trial for federal hate crime charges related to Arbery’s murder.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Featured image: Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, William “Roddie” Bryan/Glynn County Detention Center]
