Georgia DA had 16 phone calls with one of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers in days after his killing
Sixteen phone calls were made between one of Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers and the local district attorney whose office was first assigned to the case in the days after the Black man was shot dead in the street, according to prosecutors.
Court documents, filed in Glynn County Superior Court last week, say that former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson spoke with Gregory McMichael multiple times in the weeks after the murder.
Between 23 February 2020 – the day McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbour William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. chased Arbery through Satilla Shores in their trucks and shot him dead – and 5 May 2020, call logs reveal that the pair spoke at least 16 times.
The calls began almost immediately after Arbery’s murder, with McMichael calling Ms Johnson for “advice” in the aftermath of the shooting.
Cellphone records show that McMichael called Ms Johnson at 2.14pm that afternoon but the call was unanswered and he left a voicemail, the documents state.
“Jackie, this is Greg. Could you call me as soon as you possibly can? Um…we’re um…my son and I have been involved in a shooting and I need some advice right away,” he says in the voicemail.
“Could you please call me as soon as you possibly can? Thank you. Bye.”
The longest phone call between the two lasted 21 minutes and four seconds on 30 April, the log shows.
Ms Johnson and McMichael had known each other for a long time, after the former police officer worked as an investigator in the DA’s office before he retired.
The filing came just days before what would have been Arbery’s 28th birthday on Sunday.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump tweeted: “Happy heavenly birthday, Ahmaud Arbery!
“Today we remember and honor him on what would have been his 28th birthday, grateful that we were able to get justice and bring some measure of peace to his family.”
McMichael, 66, Travis McMichael, 36, and Bryan, 52, were all found guilty of Arbery’s murder at their state trial back in November.
The McMichaels were each sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole while Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, making him eligible for release after 30 years in prison.
In February, the three killers were also found guilty of all charges in their federal hate crimes trial, which determined that the three white men had pursued and murdered the Black jogger because of his race.
They each face life in prison on those charges with their sentencing scheduled for August.
Back on 23 February 2020, the three white men chased the unarmed Black jogger in their pickup trucks and shot him dead in the street in the Satilla Shores neighbourhood in Brunswick, Georgia.
