i want us to get a concept of time, so what i m going to do is i m going to sit silently for one minute. i kept coming back to the terror that must have been in the mind of the man running through satilla shores. reporter: and the court heard a powerful statement from ahmaud arbery s family. i laid you to rest. i told you i love you and someday, somehow, i would get you justice. reporter: his mother spoke directly to her son, and to the men responsible for his death. these men have chose to lie and attack my son and his surviving family. they each have no remorse and do not deserve any leniency. this wasn t a case of mistaken identity or mistaken fact.
ahmaud arbery s father is speaking. let s listen. that s when he felt most alive. most free. and they took all of that from him. when i close my eyes, i see his execution in my mind over and over. i see that for the rest of my life. when i became a father, my life became bigger than me. it became about my family. about protecting him, protecting my boy. i know in my head that it s not
arbery. he was convicted of the top charge of malice murder. could he receive a harsher sentence than the other two defendants? yes, craig, absolutely. and that s what i m expecting to see at the end of the day. in terms of the three defendants and what we will likely hear from the judge, travis mcmichael has the greatest exposure, and so i expect he ultimately will be the one who has the harshest sentence. it may not be that all three end up getting probation, but i would believe that of all three of them, travis mcmichael seems to be the least likely to walk away from this, to ever see the light of day as a free man ever again. charles, one of the things that hasn t been lost on me since all of this started, i mean, here s a trial that if it were left to a local prosecutors initially, this is a trial that never would have happened. these are sentences that never would have been handed down. what what s your take away
should have known better. vigilanteism always goes wrong. you wait for the professionals to show up. the professionals who are in marked cars. the professionals who are in uniforms. the professionals who are going to do it right because they have something to lose. the professionals with body cams. we have been watching and listening to the prosecutor that was brought in from the atlanta area to try the three men who have been convicted of killing ahmaud arbery. this is the sentencing, and this hearing will continue back with me charles coleman, civil rights attorney, former brooklyn, new york prosecutor. also an nbc legal analyst. and again, apologies to viewers and listeners on radio for the technical issues, but we are back in business now. so charles, travis mcmichael, he fired the shot that kills
chased and murdered ahmaud arbery while he was jogging have been sentenced to life in prison. cnn s ryan young joins us next with the latest. make a name for yourself. have a firm grip. always dress for success. and you gotta show em who s boss. thanks for coming in. we ll get back to you. hustle, sure, but for what matters. when you do, it leads to amazing. welcome to the next level. the all-new lexus nx. (birds chirping) (upbeat music) (phone beep) (music quieter) (phone clicks)