Ahmaud Arbery was murdered 5 years ago. His family marks the anniversary with action and reflection

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Ahmaud Arbery was murdered while jogging in a neighborhood outside of Brunswick, Ga., on Feb. 23, 2020. The killers were convicted on charges of malice murder, hate crimes and other charges.

Sunday marked five years since the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man who was chased down and killed while jogging in Southeast Georgia.

Arbery was shot by Greg and Travis McMichael, while their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, filmed the encounter. All three were later convicted in state and federal court.

In 2022, the Georgia House of Representatives passed a resolution to make the anniversary of his death, Feb. 23, as Ahmaud Arbery Day.

To honor his memory, runners gathered in Atlanta for an annual “Run with Maud” 2.23-mile race.

This year, the Transformative Justice Coalition, an organization that promotes racial justice, also hosted a town hall featuring Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, who spoke about his disappointment over the dismissal of charges against former prosecutor Jackie Johnson, who was accused of protecting the McMichaels.

"It just a hurtful thing to see people do wrong stuff," said Marcus Arbery. "And they take their board of law, and they think they always want to get out of stuff when they're wrong."

Advocates emphasized the need for continued reforms in Georgia, calling for stronger oversight of district attorneys and stricter penalties to prevent similar cases from happening again.