Ahmaud Arbery: jogger's murderer withdraws guilty plea on hate crime charge

Travis McMichael to stand trial for second time in 2020 slaying of young black man

The man convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery withdrew his guilty plea to a federal hate crime charge on Friday, electing to stand trial for a second time in the 2020 killing of the black jogger.

The killing became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice in the US.

Travis McMichael reversed his plan to plead guilty in the federal case days after a US District Court judge rejected terms of a plea deal between defence lawyers and prosecutors that was met with passionate objections by Arbery’s parents.

His father, Greg McMichael, backed down from a plan to plead guilty in a legal filing late on Thursday.

US District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said jury selection in the hate crimes trail will begin on Monday.

The McMichaels, along with William “Roddie” Bryan, were sentenced to life in prison last month after a jury found them guilty of murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

This combo of booking photos provided by the Glynn County Detention Centre, shows from left, Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William 'Roddie' Bryan Jr. AP

All three have been indicted on hate crime charges that they violated Arbery's civil rights and pursued him because he was black.

On Monday, the younger McMichael admitted for the first time he had gone after Arbery because of his race. In attempting to change his plea to guilty at the time, he said had attempted to apprehend the 25-year-old black jogger because of his “race and colour".

Arbery was killed on February 23, 2020 when the McMichaels, suspecting the jogger of committing a crime, grabbed their guns and chased him down in their pickup truck through the mostly white neighbourhood of Satilla Shores, Georgia.

Bryan, their neighbour, joined the chase and recorded the deadly encounter on his mobile phone when Travis McMichael fatally shot Arbery with a shotgun.

The father and son had planned to plead guilty to a hate crime charge after prosecutors and defence lawyers agreed to propose a 30-year sentence that would include a request to transfer the McMichaels from Georgia’s state prison system to federal custody.

The deal would have required the McMichaels to admit to racist motives and forfeit the right to appeal their federal sentence.

Ms Wood rejected the plea, saying she was not willing to be bound to the 30-year agreement.

In a statement, Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery's mother, said she had been “betrayed” by the proposed deal. Ms Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, Ahmaud's father, argued conditions in federal prison wouldn't be as harsh.

Agencies contributed to this report