Ahmaud Arbery’s mother told reporters that she knew her family would “come out with a victory” after the three men convicted of murdering her son were sentenced to life in prison.
On Friday (Jan. 7), Wanda-Cooper Jones spoke to the media after Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan were sentenced for killing the 25-year-old jogger. “When I entered the courtroom on October 18th, I sat in that courtroom for five weeks straight, but I knew that we would come out with a victory,” she said.
“My prayer was to get justice for Ahmaud, [God] fought for us in the courts, [God] gave us a fair judge,” Jones added, as she thanked God and the prosecution team.
Jones also commended Judge Timothy Walmsley, who she said, “gave us a very good verdict and he gave us a very good sentence.”
As REVOLT previously reported, the McMichaels were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for their involvement in Arbery’s shooting death. Bryan was sentenced to life behind bars with the possibility of parole. However, because he was convicted of serious violent felonies, Bryan will not be eligible for parole under Georgia law until he has served 30 years in prison.
Last year, the men were found guilty of several counts, including murder, for hunting, cornering and killing Arbery as he jogged through a Georgia neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020. The men claimed that they believed the 25-year-old was a suspect in a string of robberies that took place in the area.
On Friday, Jones thanked everyone who supported her and her family through this ordeal. “Back when Ahmaud was killed on the 23rd of February, the city of Brunswick thought that I would have to fight this fight alone, so they chose to ignore me because they thought they would have to face me alone. But they didn’t know that I had you guys to stand with me,” she said.