Judge rejects plea deal for man who killed Ahmaud Arbery

A federal judge rejected a plea agreement Monday that would have averted a hate crimes trial for the man convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.

Arbery’s parents had denounced the proposed deal for Travis McMichael, and the judge proceeded with plans to summon potential jurors next week.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones asked the judged to reject the deal and described the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to propose it as “disrespectful.”

Proposed plea agreements for father and son Greg and Travis McMichael were filed with the court late Sunday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have proposed a plea agreement that would avert a hate crimes trial for the son and father convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. His parents denounced the deal on Monday, and the judge proceeded with plans to summon potential jurors next week.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, will ask the judge when the pretrial hearing resumes Monday afternoon to reject the deal, her lawyer, Lee Merritt, told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Brunswick.

The slain man’s father, Marcus Arbery, told reporters he’s “mad as hell” over the deal, which Merritt said could enable Travis and Greg McMichael to spend the first 30 years of their life sentences in federal prison, rather than state prison where conditions are tougher.

“Ahmaud is a kid you cannot replace,” Arbery said. “He was killed racially and we want 100% justice, not no half justice.”

Cooper-Jones described the U.S. Justice Department’s decision to propose the plea deal despite her objections as “disrespectful.”

“I fought so hard to get these guys in the state prison,” she said. “I told them very, very adamantly that I wanted them to go to state prison and do their time. … Then I got up this morning and found out they had accepted this ridiculous plea.”

U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood continued preparations to summon summoning the first 50 potential jurors to the courthouse on Feb. 7 for questioning.

The proposed plea agreements were filed with the court late Sunday. There was no mention of a deal with their co-defendant, William “Roddie” Bryan. No details were disclosed in court Monday morning. Federal prosecutors didn’t mention the deals in the court’s morning session.

Federal deals would not affect state murder convictions in Arbery’s killing. All three men were sentenced to life in prison on Jan. 7 after a trial last fall.

The hate crime charges accuse McMichaels and Bryan of violating the 25-year-old Black man’s civil rights by chasing him through their neighborhood in coastal Georgia on Feb. 23, 2020. The McMichaels armed themselves and pursued Arbery in one pickup truck while Bryan joined the chase in another and recorded video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.

A national outcry erupted when the graphic video leaked online two months later. Georgia was one of just four U.S. states without a hate crimes law at the time. Legislators quickly approved one, but it came too late for state hate crime charges in Arbery’s killing.

During the state trial in Glynn County Superior Court, the defense argued that the white men had authority to chase Arbery because they reasonably suspected he had been committing crimes in their neighborhood. Travis McMichael testified he opened fire only after Arbery attacked him with fists and tried to grab his shotgun.

The federal judge ordered that a jury pool be chosen from throughout the Southern District of Georgia, which covers 43 counties, to improve odds of seating a fair and unbiased jury.