What Happened to Ahmaud Arbery, per His Autopsy

13 shotgun pellets exited his back, 11 remained embedded in his chest, medical examiner finds
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 13, 2020 9:25 AM CDT
Autopsy: 13 Shotgun Pellets Exited Arbery's Back
This image from video purports to show Ahmaud Arbery stumbling and falling to the ground after being shot as Travis McMichael stands by holding a shotgun in a neighborhood outside Brunswick, Ga., on Feb. 23, 2020.   (Twitter via AP)

Ahmaud Arbery died of "multiple shotgun wounds sustained during a struggle for the shotgun," according to an autopsy by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The April 1 autopsy report concluded the 25-year-old was shot three times on Feb. 23, including twice in the chest. Eleven shotgun pellets were removed from Arbery's chest, while 13 exited his back, per CNN and ABC News. The pellets caused injuries throughout Arbery’s body, including a damaged right lung, fractured left upper arm and shoulder blade, and a "deep, gaping, shotgun graze" to his right wrist. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system. The GBI is now investigating the two district attorneys who recused themselves from the case before Gregory McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer, and his son, Travis, were arrested and charged with murder on Thursday.

State Attorney General Chris Carr "is concerned that the actions of these offices in possibly misrepresenting or failing to disclose information during the process of appointing a conflict prosecutor to investigate the death of Ahmaud Arbery may have constituted unprofessional conduct," the GBI says. When Brunswick Judicial Circuit's Jackie Johnson dropped the case, she advised Carr to appoint Waycross Judicial Circuit's George Barnhill. Days earlier, Barnhill had told Glynn County police "that he did not see grounds for the arrest of any of the individuals involved," according to GBI. Barnhill ultimately held onto the case for weeks after discovering a conflict of interest, per CNN. The third prosecutor on the case, Atlantic Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden, was replaced by Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes on Monday. (More Ahmaud Arbery stories.)

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