As the murder trial for slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery continues, a police officer has taken the stand to reveal what he immediately noticed upon arriving on the scene.
On Monday, former Glynn County Police Officer Ricky Minshew, the first officer to respond to the killing, testified that William “Roddie” Bryan, the neighbor who drove the murder suspects to chase Arbery, “cornered” the innocent runner with his truck before he was shot.
After arriving on the scene, Minshew observed Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael pacing back and forth as the 25-year-old Black man lay on the ground with a “death rattle” coming from his body. Since Arbery “appeared to be deceased,” Minshew did not attempt any life-saving measure, a decision the victim’s mother has criticized.
“I understand he had to go and secure the crime scene, but at the same time, he had a guy laying in the middle of the road in a pool of blood,” Wanda Cooper-Jones stated.
Footage from Minshew’s body camera footage captured Bryan saying, “Should I have been chasing him? I don’t know.”
Bryan and the McMichael’s are on trial for the murder of the unarmed Black runner, who they felt “looked” suspicious. Bryan has admitted that Arbery appeared exhausted as he desperately fled the trio for several minutes and had to “stop and catch his breath.” All three men have been charged with murder, as well as aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. If convicted, they face life in prison.
