Jurors see video, hear from first officer at scene of Ahmaud Arbery’s shooting

The family of Ahmaud Arbery says it has been tough to sit through the first couple days of testimony in the trial against the men accused of killing him.

Jurors got their first full look Monday at the crime scene and the videos taken by police and one defendant.

Channel 2′s Tony Thomas described the video as gruesome at times and confusing at others.

Outside court, 87-year-old Annie Pilote, of Brunswick, said she was there to show her support for the Arbery family. She told Thomas it was her way of showing she cares.

“I’m here because I think it’s the right thing to do,” Pilote said. “Ahmaud didn’t have to be killed like that.”

In court, for the first time jurors saw and heard the video recorded by one of the defendants. They also listened to testimony from the first officer to arrive at the scene that day, Officer Ricky Minshew.

“I heard agonal breathing. I’ve always heard it called a death rattle,” Minshew said.

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The officer was just a block or two away when the shooting occurred.

Greg McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbor Roddie Bryan chased Arbery believing he was a thief. They say they wanted to stop him for police.

Arbery was shot and killed in what prosecutors call a race motivated attack. The men claim self-defense.

Defense attorneys tried to show their clients weren’t out to kill.

“He appeared to be traumatized?” Attorney Jason Sheffield asked Minshew.

“I imagine anyone with a soul, or a heart would be affected,” Minshew said.

For Arbery’s father, the graphic video from the scene was just too much.

“Have you seen your child blown apart by a 12-gauge shotgun? What would you do? Would you go look at something like that?” Marcus Arbery Sr. said.

“Justice is deserved by everybody. I don’t care who it is,” Polite said.

Thomas said the jurors seem to be paying very close attention to Monday’s testimony, especially three female jurors who were taking a lot of notes.

The wife of Greg McMichael, and mother of Travis, was also in court Monday showing little outward emotion.

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