Before sentencing the three men found guilty of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, his mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said she “didn’t want to hear anything” from the defendants.
“I really don’t want to hear anything from Travis. I really don’t want to hear anything from either defendant. Nothing they can say to me today will make me feel any better. . I miss Ahmaud more and more every day,” she told CNN.
Her attorney S. Lee Merritt said the Justice Department approached Cooper-Jones and her family earlier this week and asked if they would consider a plea agreement in which convicts would be convicted. 30 years in federal prison or not, and she denied it.
“We believe today the state will proceed with life sentences without the possibility of parole. And we think that’s the appropriate sentence,” he said.
Travis McMichael, 35, his father, Gregory McMichael, 66, and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, who chased and murdered Arbery, will be sentenced today in a Georgia court.
“Ahmaud doesn’t have a chance to live. So with that, Travis shouldn’t have a chance to live as a free man. Travis should go to prison for life without parole and… he should be in prison forever. forever,” Cooper-Jones added.
When she heard Travis McMichael testify during the trial, Cooper-Jones said it made her feel worse, adding that after seeing graphic pictures of her murdered son, her days really hard. She added that she was looking forward to today, when the defendants are sentenced.
Going forward, Cooper-Jones says she’s proud of the change Arbery has made.
“My family and I started it. It’s called the Ahmaud Arbery Foundation,” she said. “A law to arrest citizens was also passed in Georgia. Since we lost Ahmaud, we’ve had changes. So I’m very proud of that too.”
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