Ahmaud Arbery's mom is calling for the death penalty for the two men who were seen on video firing the fatal shots that took her son's life on February 23, TMZ reports. 

Wanda Cooper-Jones said prosecutors should seek the death penalty of Travis and Gregory McMichael for their deadly actions in Brunswick, Georgia.

"Coming from my point of view, my son died, so they should die as well," she told TMZ.

According to Georgia law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty in the case against the McMichaels if "the capital offense was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to the victim."

Although Arbery's mom spoke with the newly appointed prosecutor in the case, Joyette Holmes, Cooper-Jones' attorney, Lee Merritt, requested she refrain from sharing details of the conversation. However, Cooper-Jones said she was confident she and Holmes were on the same page in seeking justice.

Holmes was named the lead prosecutor in the case of Arbery's death after Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr acknowledged the case had grown in magnitude and required someone with more experience, NPR reported. Carr appointed Holmes, who is the first Black woman to serve as the Cobb County district attorney, to the case after making the announcement on Twitter.

"I have appointed District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes of the Cobb County Judicial Circuit to lead the prosecution of Gregory and Travis McMichael who have been charged with aggravated assault and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery," the post read.

"District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge, and the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done,” a statement from Carr read.

Gregory is a retired investigator and police officer who was seen alongside his son, Travis, in a video posted to Twitter riding down the street in a white pickup truck with guns. Arbery was jogging down the street when he was confronted by the two men and was shot and killed after a brief tussle.

Arbery's family believes he had left his home to go for a jog in the neighborhood at the time of his death. 

The video sparked days of outrage and protest after it was revealed the father and son had not been arrested, as Blavity previously reported.

Merritt released a statement on behalf of Arbery's family saying the video confirmed previous evidence in the case.

"The series of events captured in this video confirms what all the evidence indicated prior to its release—Ahmaud Arbery was pursued by three white men that targeted him solely because of his race and murdered him," Merritt said.

Despite the video being posted to Twitter, the family's attorney said they had previously been denied the opportunity to view the video and had instead seen it on the internet.


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