Suspect in Ahmaud Arbery killing called DA from the crime scene seeking advice, prosecutor says

“This evidence shows from day one there was an attempt by these defendants to influence and obstruct the investigation of this case,” Evans said.

Evans did not argue Gregory McMichael’s phone call to his former boss had the desired effect.

“That is not the standard the court must look at,” he said. “You must look at whether the defendant had the intention of obstructing and influencing the investigation, and that is the purpose of this evidence, to show that he wanted to influence and obstruct this.”

In deciding not to grant bond, Judge Timothy Walmsley pointed in part to Gregory McMichael’s apparent belief he had the “ability to influence an ongoing investigation.”

“I’m relieved they’ll stay behind bars,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother, told reporters Friday. “Today was a good day.”

One of Gregory McMichael’s attorneys, Laura Hogue, argued the judge should set bond.

“This case isn’t about race, your honor,” Hogue said. “This case in the indictment is about whether or not the private citizen’s arrest law … allowed Greg McMichael to do what he chose to do that day, for the sole purpose of defending his family, and his property and his community.”

Robert Rubin, one of Travis McMichael’s defense attorneys, said his client was an asset to the community.

“He’s proven that by always being employed, paying his taxes, never getting in trouble, never confronting people unless he himself is put in danger. And that was one time, by one man, named Ahmaud Arbery. And actually, Mr. Arbery confronted him twice,” Rubin said.

A third suspect was also denied bond

Arbery’s death sparked outrage across the nation, becoming yet another example of the many perils visited on African Americans engaged in ordinary activities, particularly after a disturbing video of the shooting emerged.

Arbery, 25, was out for a jog near Brunswick on February 23 when Travis and Gregory McMichael, chased him in their truck and shot him, authorities have said. Both men have pleaded not guilty to malice and felony murder charges and other counts.

William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., who recorded Arbery’s death while driving, has pleaded not guilty to charges of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment and felony murder. He was denied bond in July.

Younger suspect allegedly sent ‘racial’ messages

Prosecutors on Thursday presented “racial” texts between the younger McMichael and a friend, who was pressed in court about electronic messages the suspect allegedly sent that referred to “slant eyed f**ks” and “shooting a crackhead coon with gold teeth.”

In testimony Thursday related to Arbery’s killing, prosecutor Evans asked Travis McMichael’s longtime friend, Zachary Langford, about a comment McMichael had made in an October 2019 Facebook post that read, “ha ha ha ha! Sayonara you slant eyed f**ks.”

Evans also asked Langford about a text exchange last November between the men in which McMichael made a reference to “shooting a crackhead coon with gold teeth and a Hi Point .45.”

Langford said he did not remember either incident, but when shown evidence he had responded to the text, Langford told Evans “he was referring to a raccoon.”

Defense lawyers characterized the text messages as “inappropriate jokes,” and character witnesses described McMichael as a person who got along with everybody and felt remorse for the shooting.

‘Ahmaud wasn’t allowed to go home’

Arbery’s mother read an emotional statement in court Thursday during the bond hearing for both McMichaels, who appeared in courtvia video conference.

“In the name of justice, decency and fairness, please keep these men behind bars until they can answer for what they did,” Cooper-Jones said. “Ahmaud wasn’t allowed to go home. Ahmaud wasn’t even allowed the chance to live.”

Evans, the prosecutor, described as “racial” the social media and text messages between Travis McMichael and Langford.

The McMichaels’ defense teams called witnesses including Gregory McMichael’s wife, Allison McMichael, and other friends willing to contribute to the bond.

How a jog ended in tragedy

Gregory McMichael told police that he thought Arbery, who was out jogging, looked like a person suspected in a series of recent break-ins in the area, according to a police report.

But no string of break-ins was reported in the more than seven weeks before Arbery’s death, and there was only a burglary report after a gun was stolen from an unlocked vehicle in front of the McMichaels’ home, police said.

McMichael also told officers that Arbery and Travis McMichael struggled over his son’s shotgun. He said two shots were fired before Arbery fell to the street, according to a police report.

The third suspect, Bryan, made a video recording of the fatal shooting that went viral and led first to the McMichaels’ arrests, then his own. Investigators said they believed Bryan used his vehicle to try to “confine and detain” Arbery multiple times in the minutes leading to Arbery’s death, an arrest warrant said.

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent had testified that Arbery probably felt trapped and felt he had to fight. Bryan had told investigators he heard Travis McMichael use a racial epithet after fatally shooting Arbery, according to a GBI agent.

Arbery was shot three times, including twice in the chest, according to an autopsy performed by the GBI.

The case stalled for weeks after the shooting as two district attorneys recused themselves, including one who said the actions of the McMichaels were “perfectly legal.”

The state attorney general eventually appointed the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office to handle the case.

Johnson lost a bid for re-election on November 3, coming up short against Independent candidate Keith Higgins.