'Squirming' as Graphic Photos of Ahmaud Arbery Are Shown

Jurors see closeup photos of his wounds
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 9, 2021 1:56 AM CST
Jurors 'Squirm' Over Graphic Photos of Ahmaud Arbery
Glynn County Police Sgt. Shelia Ramos testifies during the trial for the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery at the Glynn County Courthouse on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 in Brunswick, Ga.   (Sean Rayford/Pool Photo via AP)

Jurors were shown graphic, closeup police photos Monday of the gunshot wounds that killed Ahmaud Arbery, while the first officer to find the 25-year-old Black man bleeding in the road testified he did not try to render medical aid because it would not have been safe. Three white men are on trial for murder and other crimes in the slaying of Arbery, who was chased and shot Feb. 23, 2020, after he was spotted running in a neighborhood just outside the port city of Brunswick, Ga. Glynn County police Sgt. Sheila Ramos walked the jury through dozens of crime scene photos she took about an hour after the shooting. Several jurors could be seen squirming as Ramos showed Arbery’s body lying in the street under a bloodstained covering, the AP reports.

Other images showed closeup views of the gunshot wounds to his wrist as well as grievous injuries to his chest and underneath one of his arms. Ricky Minshew, then a Glynn County police patrol officer, testified he arrived at the scene in the Satilla Shores subdivision about a minute after the gunshots sounded. Arbery was lying facedown in the street with blood pooling around him. Minshew testified he heard Arbery make a noise he described as a “death rattle.” The officer radioed for 911 operators to send emergency medical responders, but said he did not have the training or equipment to treat such serious injuries. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and used a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after they spotted him running in their neighborhood. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and took video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery at close range.

Arbery's mother stayed in the courtroom as the graphic photos were shown and could be heard exhaling quietly as Ramos identified closeup images of a gaping shotgun wound in her son’s chest. Arbery’s father got up and walked out before the jury was shown the images. The second officer to respond to the shooting, William Duggan, testified Friday and jurors watched portions of his body camera video in which Duggan rolled Arbery over and pressed a hand to his wounded chest. “I had pressure on, but there was nothing I could do,” Duggan told other first responders on the video, saying Arbery died after about two minutes. (More Ahmaud Arbery stories.)

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