McMichaels get life sentences for murder of Ahmaud Arbery in US state of Georgia
'It was the kind of trial that Ahmaud Arbery did not receive before he was shot and killed,' says federal judge
The father and son who were convicted of hate crimes and murder in connection with the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery got second life sentences in a federal court on Monday.
Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael received their sentences after previously being sentenced to life in prison without parole earlier this year in a Georgia state court.
"It's not lost on the court that it was the kind of trial that Ahmaud Arbery did not receive before he was shot and killed," said US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood.
The McMichaels along with their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, were convicted on murder charges last year after chasing down Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, with their trucks and fatally shooting him. Bryan also got a life sentence earlier this year. Bryan is scheduled to be sentenced later on Monday.
"It's so unfair, so unfair, so unfair that he was killed while he was not even committing a crime," said Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones during Monday's hearing.
Greg McMichael addressed Arbery's family in the courtroom.
"I'm sure my words mean very little to you but I want to assure you I never wanted any of this to happen," he said. "There was no malice in my heart or my son's heart that day."
