Grand jury indicts all three defendants in Ahmaud Arbery killing

A grand jury indicted all three of the men accused in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes announced Wednesday.

Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William Bryan were indicted on malice and felony murder charges for the death of Arbery, a black man who was chased, shot and killed while jogging in south Georgia in February. 

In total, the three men are being charged with nine counts of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

The three are being held in the Glynn County jail without bond.

“This is another step forward in seeking justice for Ahmaud,” Holmes said in a statement.

Arbery died on Feb. 23, but no charges were filed in the case until weeks later, when a cellphone video of the shooting went viral. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations was called in to investigate in May and the McMichaels, a father and son, were soon charged. A week later, charges against Bryan were announced. 

Other district attorneys in the area recused themselves from the case because Greg McMichael is a retired investigator for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney. Holmes was later appointed to prosecute the case. 

The McMichaels told police he chased Arbery because he thought he matched the description of a burglary suspect and Byran joined the pursuit. 

This week the Georgia legislature approved hate crimes legislation after being one of four states in the country without a law explicitly against hate crimes. The law still needs the governor’s signature to go into effect.