In a new development, Georgia’s attorney general was expected to appoint a special prosecutor Monday to lead the Ahmaud Arbery case, according to multiple reports and an attorney for the victim’s family.
If confirmed, Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes would be the fourth prosecutor involved in the highly publicized killing, which came to light last week after a video of the Feb. 23 shooting was posted on social media,
“Another huge WIN for #JusticeForAhmaud!” attorney S. Lee Merritt wrote Monday on Twitter, saying the decision was in response to the “family’s demand.”
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office could not immediately be reached for comment, but Merritt said officials were still reviewing Holmes’ team for potential conflicts. An official announcement was expected later on Monday, according to news station WSB-TV in Atlanta.
Holmes who is black inherits the murder case of a black and unarmed man, who was jogging on a residential road outside Brunswick when white ex-cop Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis, cornered him and fatally shot him.
The suspects claimed they were chasing a suspect in a series of break-ins in the neighborhood and were able to evade arrest for more than two months.
Although authorities in two jurisdiction refused to arrest or indict the pair for three months, they were charged with murder and aggravated assault last week, two days after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the probe.

This still from the surveillance video shows Ahmaud Arbery inside the under-construction home on February 23, the day he was killed.

He walked into the house then left empty handed. Ahmaud had been out jogging when he came across the home. His family says the footage shows he was not a burglar
Arbery’s family attorneys said they’ve seen surveillance video of the construction site – that no illegal activity took place. The person, believed to be Arbery, was on the property for less than three minutes.
Ahmaud’s parents’ lawyer confirmed that it is him in the video.
‘This video is consistent with the evidence already known to us.
‘Ahmaud Arbery was out for a jog. He stopped by a property under construction where he engaged in no illegal activity and remained for only a brief period.
‘Ahmaud did not take anything from the construction site. He did not cause any damage to the property,’ Lee Merritt said.
Gregory McMichael [shown in cuffs], and his son Travis McMichael were arrested at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Thursday by agents from GBI
An officer with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is seen leading the shooter, Travis McMichael, out of the home in handcuffs
Georgia state investigators announced on Sunday that they have arrested a 20-year-old man suspected of creating a fake Facebook account and using it to post a ‘hoax’ threat against protesters angry over the killing of unarmed black man 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Sunday said state police arrested Rashawn Smith and charged him with dissemination of information relating to terroristic acts.
Smith allegedly created a fake Facebook page and used it to make threats against the protesters.
He was taken into custody in Midway, a town about 50 miles north of Brunswick.
Earlier in the day, the GBI said it had ‘been made aware of a Facebook post that contains a threat to future protests related to Ahmaud Arbery’.
It was not immediately clear if Smith has an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Hundreds of people gathered alongside some 300 bikers in Brunswick on Saturday to honor Arbery.
The bikers were seen kneeling at the spot where Arbery was fatally shot on February 23 by two white men who claim they were making a citizen’s arrest as they suspected him of a neighborhood burglary.
Hundreds of people alongside bikers gathered in Brunswick to honor Arbery on Saturday. He would have turned 26 on Friday
Several of those in attendance near the Sidney Lanier Bridge wore face masks and t-shirts with the phrase ‘I run with Maud’ in tribute to Arbery.
The memorial ceremony on Saturday was held just a day after protesters gathered at the same site demanding justice for Arbery on what would have been his 26th birthday.
Georgia’s attorney general on Sunday asked the Department of Justice to investigate the handling of Arbery’s killing.
‘We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,’ Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement.
‘The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.’
Under Georgia law, someone who isn’t a sworn police officer can arrest and detain another person only if a felony is committed in the presence of the arresting citizen.
Georgia AG asks the US Justice Department to investigate Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting as it’s revealed that Barnhill the prosecutor who recused himself said slaying by two armed white men was ‘justifiable homicide’, witghin hours og the incident.
Georgia’s attorney general on Sunday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the investigation into the killing of Arbery.
Last week, a Justice Department spokesman said the FBI is assisting in the investigation and the DOJ would assist if a federal crime is uncovered.
Arbery was killed on February 23 but no arrests were made until Thursday after national outrage over the case swelled last week when video surfaced that showed the shooting which was blasted as a ‘lynching’.
‘We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,’ Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement.
‘The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.’
Attorneys for Arbery’s mother and father applauded Carr for reaching out to federal officials.
‘We have requested the involvement of the DOJ since we first took this case,’ the family’s attorneys said in a statement.
‘There are far too many questions about how this case was handled and why it took 74 days for two of the killers to be arrested and charged in Mr. Arbery’s death.’
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