WABE’s Week In Review: Jury selection begins in trial over Arbery death as Atlanta reviews old murder cases
In February of 2020, Travis and Gregory McMichael along with William Roddie Bryant chased Ahmaud Arbery in their vehicles. They said they were making a citizen’s arrest of Arbery, who they thought had broken into a nearby construction site.
During the confrontation, Arbery — who was out jogging — was shot and killed.
Police and the local district attorney did not arrest or charge anyone at the time. It was only several weeks later when video of the incident went viral that outside authorities stepped in to charge and arrest the three men.
Atlanta’s child murders reviewed…
This week, the Atlanta Police Department hand-delivered more than 40-year-old evidence from the Atlanta child murders cases to a private lab in Utah specializing in analyzing deteriorated DNA.
That technology for DNA testing was not available in 1982 when a jury found 23-year-old Wayne Williams guilty of two of the killings. But to this day, some remain skeptical that Williams was responsible for all the deaths of dozens of Black children across Atlanta.
Ms. Juliet’s effort to stay in her home…
A DeKalb County woman was given an eviction notice from her new landlord for the home she’s been renting for 27 years. Her story has become the center of a campaign from local housing advocates. https://t.co/A0hnhjnyHH
— WABE News (@wabenews) October 19, 2021
Of art and basketball…
Before the Atlanta Hawks’ first game of the season against Dallas, which the Hawks won 113-87, the team dedicated a mural in the city.
“It’s very colorful,” said local artist Muhammad Yungai, who was commissioned for the work. “It’s abstract the same way Atlanta is. It’s always flowing, always moving, always busy.”
The mural starts as a miniature basketball court on the ground and then extends up the front of a building on Flat Shoals Avenue.
The mural also features a basketball hoop with an image of the Atlanta skyline serving as the backboard.
“The only thing about it is trying to see if people are actually going to try and dunk on this hoop that’s here in the neighborhood,” said Jarrett Ellis with Hoop Dream Studios. “We do want to discourage that. This is not a live basketball rim.”
Also in this episode…
–Kathleen Quillian tells us about the Medicare open enrollment period open now.
–Sam Whitehead has more with Dr. Kimberly Manning on our coronavirus podcast “Did You Wash Your Hands?” about how to work with people still not getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
–Martha Dalton reports on Georgia’s graduation rate, including a record high for one district.
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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