BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery are set to learn their sentence Friday morning.
They face decades in prison and have yet to go on trial for federal hate crimes in connection with the case.
Channel 2′s Tony Thomas has covered the case from the beginning and went back to Brunswick ahead of the sentencing hearing.
The small coastal community has been in constant turmoil since Arbery was shot and killed 22 months ago.
“This is a small community. We aren’t used to this around here,” said Brunswick car dealer Alfonso Hart.
He told Thomas that he is ready to get sentencing over with and truly in the past.
“It’s like tearing everyone apart a little bit, but it’s also bringing the community together,” Hart said.
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A jury convicted Travis McMichael, his father, Greg McMichael, and neighbor, Roddie Bryan, of murder and other charges in November in Arbery’s death.
On Friday, Judge Timothy Wamsley will sentence the three, deciding how long the men will serve in prison and if they will have a chance for parole.
“They have to show remorse. They have to show they are regretful,” Atlanta defense attorney Chinwe Foster said. “They have to show this was a horrible mistake. I think that’s something the court wants to hear.”
Foster said the defense teams should be careful though, since a federal hate crimes trial looms next month in the case.
In their November trial, Travis McMichael was the only defendant to testify. Foster expects all three to say something Friday.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones will be listening, relieved their day of reckoning is here.
“It’s been a long fight. It’s been a hard fight, but God is good,” Cooper-Jones said.
Sentencing is set for 10 a.m. Friday.
If Wamsley chooses to grant the possibility of parole, the perpetrators must serve at least 30 years behind bars before applying.
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