48 Hours - A Promise to Ahmaud

Episode Date: November 28, 2021

When Ahmaud Arbery was chased by three white men and shot in the street, his mother laid him to rest promising to get him justice. The promise is fulfilled when the men are found guilty. CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca reportsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. The state of Georgia versus Travis McMichael, guilty. Greg McMichael, guilty. William R. Bryan, guilty.

Three white men were found guilty of murder for chasing down and fatally shooting a 25-year-old black man named Ahmaud Arbery in February 2020. To tell you truth, I never thought this day would come, but God is good. I think about it a lot when I go out and run. It's a very strong connection when I run now to Ahmaud Arbery. Ahmaud and I were best friends. The way Ahmaud died, it just, it hurts my soul. He was jogging through a neighborhood, minding his own business. Three white men decided to get in their trucks and pursue Ahmaud. They became judge, jury, and executioner.

It's very painful. Ahmaud was my baby, and Ahmaud's gone. He was hunted down Like an animal This was a lynching Modern day lynching The guy was trying to take the shotgun away from me There's nothing else I can do I miss

The little kisses on the cheek My mom was the kid that would just come in the house And just give me a hug. His unofficial crime was jogging while black. The local authorities, the police department, they had no intentions of making arrests, and they didn't make an arrest. What were they doing?

Telling lies, hoping I'd go away. No one has been arrested or charged in the death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery. My son was not committing a crime. I had to keep pushing to get answers. She is relentless. I would not go away. She wasn't going to be turned back by anybody.

Video has surfaced of an African-American man being chased down and killed while his family says he was just out jogging. Nobody got us on video. You just witnessed it just out jogging. Nobody got this on video? You just witnessed it? Yeah, I got it. You got it on video? This murder in broad daylight was streamed into people's homes all across the country. Justice for Obama! Justice for Obama! I just think the world saw the way that he was killed.

Two suspects, a father and son, are being held without bail tonight, charged with murder and aggravated assault. Gregory and Travis McMichael deny any wrongdoing. The police say they have also arrested William Bryan, the man who recorded the video of the killing. Today marks the first day of the murder trial against the men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery. Twelve jurors have finally been selected, 11 white people and one black person. It's all rise for a jury, believe me. It's very hard to look at the three defendants that are responsible for Ahmaud leaving me,

sitting there in front of me. Yes, it's very hard. Mr. Arbery is under attack by all three of these men. Travis has no choice but to fire his weapon in self-defense. Do you still believe this case is about race? I do. If it was a white guy that was jogging in a black neighborhood, it would have been totally different.

It has nothing to do with racism. They took my baby boy from me. Thank you. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X.

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You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+. It's just the best idea yet. Mr. Aubrey was under attack. And they made their decision to attack because he was a black man running down the street. Ahmaud Arbery was not an innocent victim. He was an intruder. From the beginning, there have been two starkly different stories about what led to the death of Ahmaud Arbery. Twelve jurors were asked to decide which of those stories they believed. He was trying to get away from these strangers who were yelling at him,

threatening to kill him. He raises the gun, and he does it to defend himself. And then they killed him. Through it all, his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, listened, hoping to make good on a promise she made to her son. Don't worry, son. I promise you the day that I lay you to rest that I will get answers and I will get justice. I haven't really grasped that Ahmaud is gone forever.

Ahmaud was one of three children. I was young when I had him. We grew up together. His parents split up. Wanda says she worked two jobs while raising him and his older siblings, Marcus Jr. and Jasmine. How close were you? Really close. He knew all my secrets. He defended me when I couldn't defend myself. He saw the best in people.

Lifelong friend, Akeem Baker. He always saw the potential that people. Lifelong friend Akeem Baker. He always saw the potential that his friends were capable of. Ma was such a leader. Literally, the kids followed Ma. He showed leadership and grit on the gridiron, says high school football coach Jason Vaughn. Ma was so easy to love, and he just had a bright spirit about him. Wanda says it was after high school when his bright spirit seemed to dim. I noticed he wasn't as talkative to me. After a year at a technical college in 2013, Ahmad lost interest in school, says Jasmine. Getting to a low point in life where he had gotten in trouble.

Over the next few years, Ahmad had some brushes with the law and was arrested twice. Once for bringing a gun onto school grounds and again for shoplifting. You're under arrest. He was on probation. Were you worried that his run-ins with the law were going to follow him? Very worried. I mean, that's something that I carried every day. His behavior, she says, was changing, so she asked to have him evaluated. In December of 2018, Ahmaud was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.

But Jasmine says her brother was never dangerous. He didn't have episodes. He wasn't violent. And Wanda says Ahmaud even came up with his own effective therapy, running. He felt like he was in total control when he ran. We had our challenges, but we were working together to fix those. Ahmaud was planning to go back to school. Wanda remembers the last time she saw her son, she was leaving on a business trip. I'll be gone for a couple of days, and I love you. And his last words to me was, I love you too. then came the phone call just days later on february 23rd 2020. this gentleman identified himself as an investigator from glen county police department

she says the investigator told her that ahmad had broken into a house and was shot and killed how could this happen is it real is it a bad dream? I remember falling on the floor. It was a really big shock. Even that he was burglarized in the house, it just, that was a huge shock to me. Despite Ahmad's personal struggles, no one who knew him believed that story. I knew that wasn't true. Ahmaud ain't breaking into any houses.

Like, nah, something's not right about this. I had to get answers to find out what exactly happened. Wanda says she pushed the police for more details, convinced they were not leveling with her. Shortly after Ahmaud was killed, her suspicions only grew when she picked up the local paper. It told us that Ahmaud was actually chased and trapped in and killed in the streets. Chased and killed in the street. Not breaking into a home, committing a crime. The whole thing of him burglarizing the home was not true.

Soon, Wanda saw their names in the newspaper, the men who were present when her son was shot to death. Gregory McMichael, a former law enforcement officer, his son, Travis, a Coast Guard veteran, and William Roddy Bryan, a mechanic. Wanda wondered why they weren't charged with any crime. The crime here was obvious. There's a dead man on the side of the road. Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt is representing Ahmaud's family.

Why wasn't anyone arrested immediately? You have a dead man on the floor. The victim was black. The suspects were white. And this is South Georgia. Merritt believes every bit of this case was affected by Ahmaud's race and the fact that Gregory McMichael had friends in high places. He was a close friend of the DA for the county. And McMichael once worked as an investigator in District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office. So what does that tell a responding officer?

That this person is not going to be someone that you can arrest. They're above the law. They are the law. Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case. George Barnhill, a DA from another county, took over. Wanda discovered Barnhill was Facebook friends with Gregory McMichael. Wanda Cooper-Jones did her homework, found connections. By early April, more than 30 days had passed without an arrest in the Arbery shooting,

and people who had known Ahmaud refused to let his death go unanswered and encouraged the community to apply pressure. I'm talking about just a great kid. I need you to call and email. It apparently had an effect. Barnhill became the second prosecutor to recuse himself. A third DA, Tom Durden, took over. Still, no one was charged for Ahmad's death. And I knew if I didn't fight, it would not be an arrest. And then came the release of that video. On May 5th, 2020, 72 days after the shooting, something happened that seared Ahmaud Arbery's name into the American psyche. Video has surfaced of an African-American man being chased down and killed

while his family says he was just out jogging. It turns out one of the three men present at the shooting, William Roddy Bryan, had been recording cell phone video. His footage mysteriously appeared online. We caution you, this video is hard to watch. I called my mom crying. I was just hurt. DA Tom Durden immediately said he planned to seek indictments. On May 7th, 74 days after the shooting. Agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation effectuated an arrest on two individuals, Greg and Travis McMichaels. It was just two days after the video went viral.

Charging them with both felony murder and aggravated assault. Two weeks later, Roddy Bryan was arrested on charges including felony murder. But by then, D.A. Durden had asked to be replaced. With images of Ahmaud Arbery's final moments still haunting laptops and living rooms around America, the question of what really happened to Ahmaud would be front and center. To know that that was his last moment instead, this evil. This is where the video starts. We went with Lee Merritt to retrace Ahmaud Arbery's last steps.

Authorities have put together a chronology of what happened that day based on video and witness accounts. You said Mott is running this way. On February 23, 2020, Ahmad had gone running in Satilla Shores, a predominantly white subdivision just two miles from his own neighborhood. He started his workout before 1 p.m. Why do you think everybody comes to run here? I mean, look at it. It was

the other side of the tracks. Homes are gorgeous, beautiful moss-covered trees. You could smell the honeysuckle. In that neighborhood is a home under construction at 220 Satilla Drive, outfitted with security cameras. For months, it's been a curiosity to passersby, like this couple, these kids, and several times, Ahmaud. And on the last day of Ahmaud's life, he stops by again. While he's inside of the home,

one of the neighbors notices. The neighbor calls police. There's a guy in the house right now. Is the house under construction? And you said someone's breaking into it right now? No, it's all open. It's under construction. It's 1.08 p.m. The site security video shows him looking around.

At the time, the house is still missing doors. There are no signs prohibiting entry. He comes out of the front entranceway. And Ahmad starts running again. Which way does he go? He goes straight this way, the opposite of the way that he came. Still not ready to go home, because if he wanted to go home, he would go left. The neighbor is still watching.

He's running right now. There he goes right now. And you said it was a male in a black t-shirt? A white t-shirt. Black guy, white t-shirt. And now, another neighbor has taken a special interest. Gregory McMichael says he recognizes the runner from one of the construction site surveillance videos. He alerts his son, Travis. The McMichaels decide to give chase. They grab their guns and they go after him.

They follow DeMod in their pickup truck down Satilla Drive onto Burford Road. They claim that they begin to yell at him, hey, pull over, stop, we want to talk to you. Why do you think Ahmaud kept running and didn't stop? So there were men pursuing him with guns. The McMichaels are still on Ahmaud's tail when he runs past Roddy Bryan's house. Bryan sees a McMichaels truck chasing Ahmaud and decides to join in. At this point, Ahmaud turns to run the other way and Bryan follows in his truck. He starts filming with his phone. This is where things really escalate because as he turns around to run the other direction,

he's confronted with another truck. According to the men's statements to police, they continue chasing Ahmad through the neighborhood. He is able to run around them, and at that point, he takes off up here. But Brian catches up with them again. Investigators say the McMichaels have taken another route to get in front of Ahmaud. They're waiting for him near the corner of Satilla Drive and Holmes Road. By this point, Gregory McMichael is in his truck bed with a.357 Magnum.

At about 1.15 p.m., he calls 911. I'm out here at Satilla Shores. There's a black male running down the street. Satilla, where at Satilla Shores? There's a black male running down the street. Satilla, where at Satilla Shores? I don't know what street we're on. Stop right there. Stop. McMichael's son, Travis, is standing near the driver's door, shotgun in hand. Ahmaud changes direction, and Travis McMichael meets him by the front bumper. Stop.

You don't try to outrun a bullet. He had to engage at that point. You know, he had to fight for his life. What happened next is hotly contested and difficult to watch. The first shot actually strikes Ahmad in the chest. There's a struggle. A second shot. And then a third. You see Ahmad stumble. He collapses. Police arrive within minutes. They find Greg and Travis McMichael near Ahmad, who is lying in the road. Police body cams are rolling.

He had no choice. He had no choice. 136, go ahead and start this way, please. Ahmaud Arbery is pronounced dead at the scene. Police question both McMichaels. This guy, who we've seen on video numerous times break into these other houses, he comes hauling ass down the street. Gregory McMichael tells police he believed Arbery was responsible for break-ins in the neighborhood,

and that's why they started to chase him. I run in the house, I said, Travis, the same guy that broke in the house down there. Who's Travis? My son. Got it. We've had break-ins. Travis says he caught sight of Ahmaud outside that house under construction two weeks earlier. And then today, his father saw him running by.

So we run out there and stop him to talk to him. We pull up beside him and say, hey, stop, stop, we want to talk to you. And he just keeps on running. Stop, he come out of the truck running at us. I told him stop, stop, stop, until he hit me. I had nothing to do. I had nothing else I could do. Roddy. Stop. He come out of the truck running at us. I told him stop, stop, stop until he hit me. I had nothing to do. I had nothing else I could do. Roddy Bryant,

the neighbor who joined the chase, was also interviewed. You're a passerby coming through? Not necessarily. I mean, if the guy would have stopped, you know, I mean, find out what was going on. I mean, this would have never happened. You know, should we have been chasing you? I don't know.

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When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Now we all know chanting a name

won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us

about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free with a 48 hours It's been a long year, eight months, and nearly two weeks since Wanda Cooper Jones lost her son. Now, she's in Brunswick to see the three men charged with Ahmaud's murder face a judge and jury. I didn't think that we would ever get this far because it was so dark in the very beginning. It was very dark. But before opening statements, more disturbing news. Tonight there are accusations of discrimination as the racially charged Ahmaud Arbery murder trial gets underway with 11 white jurors and just one black juror. Despite the nearly all-white jury, Wanda has faith that the evidence will carry the day.

My job is to be there each time a mob's name is called in court, and I'll be there every day, every day, all day. Morning, ladies and gentlemen. Linda Donacoski makes the opening statement for the prosecution. We are here because of assumptions and driveway decisions. Central to their case, that the three defendants acted as vigilantes

and set into motion the deadly chain of events on February 23, 2020. And it all started when Gregory McMichael saw him running down the street. Dunacosky tells the jury Arbery was chased for five minutes before Gregory McMichael made that 911 call. 911, what's the emergency? What does he say? His emergency is... This is the emergency, ladies and gentlemen. There's a black male running down the street.

That's the emergency. She says Ahmaud Arbery was under attack that day. So how do you know Mr. Ahmaud Arbery was under attack by strangers with intent to kill him?

Because Greg McMichael told the police this. Stop or I'll blow your f***ing head off. That's what he said to Mr. Arbery. How do you know this was an attack on Mr. Arbery? Because Greg McMichael said it perfectly. Mr. Arbery was trapped like a rat.

The prosecutor points out that, but for William Roddy Bryan, Arbery could have escaped. Mr. Bryan tries to hit Mr. Arbery four different times with his pickup truck. He gets so close to Mr. Arbery that Mr. Arbery actually has a palm print and white t-shirt fibers that are consistent on that car. And that brings us to the video. The cell phone video, shot by Bryan and seen the world over over is played for the first time for the jury. As the linchpin of the prosecution's case, it will be analyzed frame by frame throughout the trial. But Gregory McMichael's attorney, Franklin Hogue, says it doesn't tell the full story.

You're looking through the knothole of offense. Good afternoon. In their opening statements, the McMichaels defense contends they were only trying to stop Arbery that day and hold him for police because they suspected him of burglary. And they claim under Georgia's citizen's arrest law, they had every right to do it. That law was overhauled after Arbery's shooting. Defense attorney Robert Rubin. Travis McMichael felt a duty and responsibility that made him willing to put himself at risk to help the police detain Ahmaud Arbery. Gregory McMichael has said he recognized Arbery from

a neighbor's security footage. Greg McMichael was absolutely sure this was the guy. So they're going to try to detain him for the police. This is what the law allows. Stop, stop, get down, stop. This guy is not stopping. At that point his attorney jason sheffield says travis mcmichael was afraid arbery would overpower him even though travis has a gun and a vehicle and ahmad arbery has two legs you still can be afraid while you have possession of a firearm it turns out the mcmichaels were so sure the shooting was justified, they are the ones who arranged to have the video leaked. Do you believe that this video establishes his innocence? Yes, I do. But not just the video. You need more. For the defense,

the more is what they say was happening in Satilla Shores months before the shooting. More is what they say was happening in Satilla Shores months before the shooting. Crime had gone up. The break-ins, the theft didn't end, especially for a man named Larry English. Larry English was the owner of that home under construction on 220 Satilla Drive. English had reported several trespassers on his property. Four, five, maybe six different times. The prosecution placed several 911 calls English made. This is Larry English from 220 Cecilia Drive. And clips from

his security footage. Those neighborhood kids, the white couple, and Ahmaud Arbery, who enters four times before the February 23rd, 2020 incident. English told investigators Arbery never took anything, but Arbery's presence at that construction site was causing suspicion among some neighbors. A lot of people began to impute the criminality on the Black person that was coming onto the property. And less than two weeks before the shooting, police responded to another 911 call of an intruder at English's home, this time made by Travis McMichael. I just caught a guy running into a house being built. What did he look like? It's a black male, red shirt, white shorts. I don't know if he's armed or not. Travis actually saw him.

Police body cam captures a conversation with a group of neighbors who have gathered at the scene. Now this guy, he's always on foot. Nobody in the neighborhood knows who he is. And all the times on the video that Mr. English sent me, he sent me one now, it's always been just in there plundering around. He hasn't seen him actually take anything. Here's Gregory McMichael chiming in. I said, so, you know, it's a criminal trespasser. Yeah, yeah, apparently. So, ordering a prowling. This is 12 days before the event. So, this neighborhood's on edge,

and the McMichaels are right at the center of it. Well, here's the thing. What does Mr. Arbery do? He shows up, he wanders around for a few minutes, and he leaves. And prosecutors say there's no evidence Arbery was responsible for any of the crime in Satilla Shores. On February 23, 2020, after Arbery was killed, Gregory McMichael admitted to a responding officer he didn't actually know if Arbery had committed a crime before they gave chase. Do Greg Michael ever indicate to you at that time that he thought Ahmaud Arbery, the guy, had committed a crime that day? No, ma'am. Did he ever tell you that, oh, we were going to detain this guy and wait for the police to come and investigate?

No, ma'am. After eight days of testimony, the prosecution rests, and a surprise witness takes the stand for the defense. Mr. Bryan was attempting to take a video and record Mr. Arbery rather than shoot him or hurt him. Roddy Bryan's lawyer, Kevin Goff, has saved his opening argument until the prosecution rests, and he uses it to paint a picture of his client as an innocent bystander in this case. Roddy Bryan is working on his porch, front porch, minding his own business. Bryan owns a gun, but when he decides to join the chase, Goff points out, he doesn't even bring it. He walks out to his car with a cell phone and his keys. And that speaks volumes as to the intentions of Mr. Bryan on the day in question.

But prosecutors say Bryan was more than a bystander, forcing Arbery off the road with his truck. Goff suggests to the jury it was Arbery who was acting aggressively and trying to get into the truck. That scared Mr. Bryan. And when Goff finishes his opening, a surprise witness takes the stand. Defense calls Travis McMichael. Do you want to testify?

I do. Why? I want to give my side of the story. Defense attorney Jason Sheffield points out that with Travis McMichael's Coast Guard training, he understands the appropriate use of force. Is it your goal to escalate situations? No, absolutely not. The defense says Travis McMichael had reason to suspect Arbery was armed that day because 12 days

earlier, Travis McMichael says he spotted him by the construction site at night reaching into his waistband. I step out. As he comes out of the shadows, he comes directly to me, pulls up his shirt, and goes to reach in his pocket or waistband area. So what happened at that moment? It freaked me out. When Arbery ran past his house the day of the shooting, Travis McMichael tells the jury he thought his father had called police. The defense had claimed he had probable grounds to suspect and detain Arbery under Georgia's old citizens arrest law. So you talked to him. What do you say? Yeah, so I said, hey, stop for a minute. Stop. Please stop.

Did you actually use the word please? I'm sure I did. Does he say leave me alone or anything? Nothing. Travis McMichael says that put him on edge, even more so when he saw Arbery encounter Roddy Bryan in his black pickup. Looks like he's grabbing the truck. My thought was, why is he attacking a truck? He says he temporarily lost sight of Arbery, so he got out of his truck, dialed 911, and gave the phone to his father.

I don't want to escalate the situation. Something's not right. I'm not going to escalate this any further. When Arbery reappeared running in his direction, Travis McMichael says he yelled at him to stop and grabbed his shotgun from the truck. He was like a running back, like he's ready to bolt or to move any way he wanted, you know, but he was focused on me. Travis McMichael says he raised his weapon only after Arbery began closing in on it. This is when I needed to deter him to stay, to do not come at me as soon as what happened. I get to the front of the truck, and by the time I get to the front of the truck, he turns and is on me, and is on me. I mean, in a flash. I mean, immediately on me.

What were you thinking at that moment? I was thinking of my son. What did you do? I shot. I think about my son as well. His son's alive. My son is gone forever. In the end, Travisichael says pulling the trigger

was a pure act of self-defense he had my gun this is a life or death situation you shot it you you should yes and at that point i was in shock realized that he was deceased and i looked up the police were right there um i stood up realized that know, that I got a gun here, the police aren't seeing, so I walked over to the side and put my shotgun down. After that, it was a blur. All right, we're adjourned. On cross-examination, Prosecutor Linda Dunikoski suggests the deadly confrontation never would have happened

if the McMichaels hadn't decided to chase a man with no actual proof he'd committed a crime. Never threatened you at all? No ma'am. Didn't pull out any guns? No ma'am. Didn't pull out any knife? No ma'am. Never reached for anything did he? No. He just ran? Yes he was just running. You could have just let him run, correct? I could have, but I also wanted to make sure that everything was okay down the road and see what was happening. You know that no one has to talk to anyone they don't want to talk to, right? That's correct.

The defense calls a series of neighbors who claims that Tilla Shores has been gripped by a crime wave. Were you aware whether guns had been stolen from cars in the neighborhood? Yes. In this climate, Arbery's presence drew attention. Mr. English would call and say, the colored man's back at my house. Word would travel fast. Tell the boys to get inside and lock the doors. The guy's back at Larry's. How did that make you feel, the fact that there was someone coming over?

Violated. Upset that my kids weren't getting to grow up in the safe neighborhood I grew up in. As the trial moves along, a familiar, albeit masked face, appears in the audience. The right reverend Al Sharpton managed to find his way into the back of the courtroom. Kevin Goff complains. We don't want any more black pastors coming in here, sitting with the victim's family, trying to influence a jury in this case. After Kevin Goff complains, the Reverend Jesse Jackson arrives in court.

Outside the jury's presence, Goff keeps pushing, arguing repeatedly that the Arbery's high-profile supporters want to turn the trial into a spectacle. Some say making a spectacle of himself in the process. If a bunch of folks came in here dressed like Colonel Sanders with white masks sitting in the back, I mean, that would be a problem. The judge is having none of it. As long as things are not disruptive and it's not a distraction to the jury or anything else I mean, that would be. The judge is having none of it. As long as things are not disruptive and it's not a distraction to the jury or anything else going on in the courtroom, so be it. Days later, hundreds of black pastors have gathered to support the Arbery family.

They hold a vigil in front of the courthouse. We're going to keep coming till we get justice. front of the courthouse. We're going to keep coming until we get justice. Goff repeatedly moves for a mistrial, and prosecutor Donacoste has had enough. Your Honor, Mr. Goff is a brilliant lawyer. He stood up in this courtroom knowing full well he was on television. He got the response he wanted. Now he's motioned for a mistrial based on something that he caused. Kevin Goff denies it, but according to Lee Merritt, Team Rodney Bryan makes a last-minute request. Rodney Bryan asked for a plea deal. He asked for a plea deal. Yeah, he wanted to turn state evidence. But there would be no deal, and the case would soon head to the jury. It has been a long and difficult trial to sit through for Wanda Cooper-Jones.

But sit there she has, listening to 10 days of testimony. So rise for the jury, please. Watching her son dying over and over again on cell phone video and hearing the man who killed him explain himself. But she still has the same question she had on February 23rd, 2020, the day Ahmaud Arbery lost his life. If the prosecution let you walk up there and cross-examine Travis McMichael, what would you have asked him? Why? Why did you choose to kill my son? Is the state ready to proceed? In closing arguments, lead prosecutor Linda Donikoski laid out the state's position in plain language.

The three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery had no reason to kill him. They made their decision to attack Ahmaud Arbery in their driveways because he was a black man running down the street. Dunacoski says the defendants had no right to make a citizen's arrest. In order to make an arrest of an offender, the offense has to be committed in the private citizen's presence. Do we have that here? No. What they have, Donikoski tells jurors, is a case of cold-blooded murder.

Three on one, two pickup trucks, two guns. Mr. Obrey, nothing in his pockets. Not a cell phone, not a gun, not even an ID. As for the defense's claim of self-defense... Who brought the shotgun to the party? Who took the shotgun out of the car? Who pointed the shotgun? The guy's running. Running away from them for five minutes. They can't claim self-defense under the law because they were the initial unjustified aggressors and they started this. fight aggressors and they started this. Mr. Sheffield. But Travis McMichael's attorney, Jason Sheffield, says his client believed he had no other choice. You are allowed to defend yourself.

You are allowed to use force that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if you believe it's necessary. This is Gregory McMichael. Gregory McMichael's attorney, Laura Hogue, claimed that Ahmaud Arbery was no innocent victim. Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails. There was an audible gasp in the courtroom. You got up and left. Yes.

Why? I didn't expect them to go that low. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. Closing arguments for the defendant wrapped up with Roddy Bryan's attorney, Kevin Goff, trying to distance his client from the murder. Roddy Bryan's presence is absolutely superfluous and irrelevant to the tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery. He says that Arbery would have died whether or not Roddy Bryan chose to leave his porch that day.

Then what difference does it make whether Roddy Bryan is there or not? Mr. Arbery cannot run bullets. After almost a day and a half of closing arguments, the case that had gripped the nation was in the hands of 12 ordinary citizens. I ask that you retire the jury. It took about 11 hours. The verdict was in. The prosecution team, Larissa Olivier, Paul Camarillo, and Linda Donikoski, braced themselves. When you hear that the verdict is in, what's your reaction?

I stopped breathing, and Paul had to come over to me and go, breathe, breathe. And because it was like it went up here into my chest right here, and I just stopped breathing. Because then I knew this was it. It was done. All right, let's go. Three defendants, nine charges each. Please hand your verdict forms to the sheriff. Judge Timothy Walmsley begins with Travis McMichael. Malice murder.

We, the jury, find the defendant, Travis McMichael, guilty. Guilty on all charges. The other two men guilty on multiple charges, including felony murder. What was that moment like after the verdict, seeing Wanda, seeing Marcus? It was incredibly emotional. Wanda came up and gave me a hug, and you could tell that the waves of relief and grief were still coursing through her. Outside court, the grieving mother spoke

as she always had, from the heart. It's been a long fight. It's been a hard fight, but God is good. Wanda Cooper Jones had done it. She had kept her promise to Ahmaud. He will now rest in peace. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Adopted and capable of murder. She has thought about killing her brother. She is a danger to our family. The lost child that haunted us. We cannot be her parents anymore. Until we found her years later and heard her surprising story. A new 48 Hours, Saturday on CBS. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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