Former Ahmaud Arbery case prosecutor Joyette Holmes breaks silence on the case
District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position in July of 2019. (Courtesy of Cobb District Attorney’s Office)
Last May, former Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes was appointed as the special prosecutor in the Ahmaud Arbery case. That came after a series of other prosecutors recused themselves — including former coastal Brunswick prosecutor Jackie Johnson, who has been accused of misconduct in the Arbery case and was indicted this September by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was chased and fatally shot by three white men in February 2020 while jogging through a neighborhood in Brunswick. After more than 2 months of no arrests in the case, a viral video of Arbery’s death sparked nationwide outrage. All three men — Gregory and Travis McMichael, and William ‘Roddie’ Bryan — face federal hate crimes and state murder charges.
Former DA Holmes eventually lost her seat last November to current Cobb DA Flynn Brody Jr. Now, Holmes tells WABE’s “All Things Considered” host Jim Burress that she’s breaking her silence on how the wheels of justice have turned in the case.
She started by telling Burress about how emotion is playing out in the Arbery case.
Lily Oppenheimer contributed to this report.
For a deeper exploration of Ahmaud Arbery’s story, listen to WABE’s podcast, “Buried Truths.” Hosted by journalist, professor, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff, season three of “Buried Truths” explores the Arbery murder and its direct ties to racially motivated murders of the past in Georgia.
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