Arbery family opposes plea deal reached by prosecutors, two of three charged in killing

Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, who was murdered in a Georgia suburb in 2020, says she is opposing a plea deal reached by two of the men convicted in the case, Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael, after the deal with federal prosecutors was reported. 

Both men have been charged with hate crimes in the killing.

“A copy of the plea agreement has been provided to the Court for its consideration,” the notices of plea agreements, which were filed Sunday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, said, according to CNN.

While details about the agreements were not disclosed in the documents, an attorney for Cooper-Jones said the family “is devastated” by the agreement and will oppose it, CNN added.

S. Lee Merritt, Cooper-Jones’s attorney, said in an Instagram post he “will oppose this deal before the Court” on Monday.

“This back room deal represents a betrayal to the Arbery family who is devastated,” Merritt added.

The men, along with William “Roddie” Bryan, who was not mentioned in the filing on Sunday, were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole earlier this month for the murder of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was jogging in a south Georgia neighborhood when confronted by the men.

Bryan videotaped part of Arbery’s murder, while Travis McMichael fatally shot the 25-year-old and was found guilty on nine charges including malice murder.

“As we understand it, [Arbery] left his home apparently to go for a run, and he ended up running for his life,” Judge Timothy Walmsley said of Arbery’s death at the time of the sentencing.

The men were also indicted on federal hate crimes charges, which they are set to face trial for beginning Feb. 7.