Hearing set for three Georgia men charged in Ahmaud Arbery killing

Zolnierek/iStockBy CHRISTINA CARREGA, ABC News

(GLYNN COUNTY, Ga.) -- The three Georgia men charged in connection with the killing of Ahmaud Arbery have been scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 4.

Arbery, 25, was shot and killed Feb. 23 as he was jogging through the Satilla Shores, Georgia, neighborhood, but charges weren't filed until last month.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with the felony murder of Arbery on May 7, and William Bryan, 50, was charged May 21.

Travis McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, had accused Arbery of committing "several break-ins" in the area, according to police reports. Gregory McMichael, a former Glynn County police officer, alerted Travis McMichael and William Bryan that he spotted Arbery and began to pursue him, according to police reports.

Bryan recorded Arbery jogging before he was ambushed by Travis McMichael, who was armed with a shotgun, as Gregory McMichael, armed with a .357 handgun, stood nearby in the bed of a truck.

The video appears to show Arbery and Travis McMichael tussling with the shotgun before three shots went off, killing Arbery.

Two prosecutors recused themselves from investigating Arbery's death, citing conflicts of interest and requesting that the state's attorney general reassign the case.

The 28-second cellphone video was leaked onto social media May 5, the same day District Attorney Tom Durden solicited the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate Arbery's death.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette Holmes was assigned on May 11 to handle the prosecution of the McMichaels and Bryan.

If convicted, they'll likely face either life in prison, with or without parole, or the death penalty.

Attorneys representing the McMichaels and Bryan didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from ABC News.

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