A former district attorney has been charged with misconduct in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man fatally shot last year by two white men while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood.
Former Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, who lost a reelection bid in November, was indicted Thursday on misconduct charges for failing “to treat Ahmaud Arbery and his family fairly and with dignity,” stemming from her reluctance to file charges against the two suspects because of her past work with one of them, according to the charging documents, CBS News reported.
If convicted, she faces years in prison for the two criminal counts.
The two men, Gregory McMichael and his son Travis, were eventually charged with murder and aggravated assault. The McMichaels said they believed Arbery was a burglary suspect and acted in self-defense.
The elder McMichael worked in the district attorney’s office under Johnson for several years until his retirement in 2019.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper, who filed a civil lawsuit earlier this year accusing Johnson of attempting to “cover up” her son’s murder, called the indictment “a very huge win” during a press conference Friday.
