(25 Nov 2021) After three men were convicted of murder for the death her son, Ahmaud Arbery's mother said Wednesday that she never thought she'd see the day come.
"Today was a very, very emotional day. Today was a day of victory," Wanda Cooper-Jones said during an interview with The Associated Press.
Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of murder in the February 2020 death of the 25-year-old Black man, who was chased and fatally shot while running through their coastal Georgia neighborhood.
The February 2020 slaying drew limited attention at first. But when video of the shooting leaked online, Arbery's death quickly became another example in the nation's reckoning of racial injustice in the way Black people are treated in their everyday lives.
Now the men all face a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The judge will decide whether their sentences are served with or without the possibility of parole.
Cooper-Jones' attorney, Lee Merritt, hailed his client's unflinching fight for justice.
Of the son she called Quez, Cooper-Jones said, "we finally got justice for Ahmaud, we finally got justice for Quez."
When Travis McMichael was pronounced guilty of murder, Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., let out a “gut-wrenching grunt," his attorney Ben Crump said.
Marcus Arbery thanked God, his family and the family's supporters and said he doesn't want to see any other father have to live through what he lived through. But as he reflected on the verdict, he said, “Today is a good day.”
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley did not immediately schedule a sentencing date, saying that he wanted to give both sides time to prepare.
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