Security camera footage taken in December outside a home being built in coastal Georgia raises new questions about what Ahmaud Arbery was doing at the site two months later right before he was fatally shot in the neighbourhood.
A white father and son remain jailed on charges of felony murder in the 25-year-old black man's death.
Gregory and Travis McMichael armed themselves and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck after spotting him running in their subdivision February 23.
Just before the shooting, a security camera recorded Arbery inside the open frame of a home under construction on the McMichaels' street.
Gregory McMichael, 64, told police he suspected Arbery was a burglar responsible for recent break-ins in the neighbourhood just outside the port city of Brunswick and said Arbery attacked his son before he was shot.
Arbery's mother has said she believes her son was merely out jogging.
More From This Section
On Friday, an attorney for the owner of the house under construction released a short video taken by a security camera on December 17.
It shows a black man in a T-shirt and shorts leaving the site with his back to the camera. He walks a few steps toward the road, then starts running at a jogger's pace.
It now appears that this young man may have been coming onto the property for water, J. Elizabeth Graddy, the attorney for homeowner Larry English, said in a statement.
There is a water source at the dock behind the house as well as a source near the front of the structure. It is not known if the person in the December 17 video is Arbery.
Meanwhile, a defense attorney for Gregory McMichael told reporters Friday that they have interviewed witnesses, reviewed video footage and examined other evidence that tells a very different story about Arbery and the two men charged with killing him.
The truth will reveal this is not just another act of violent racism, attorney Franklin Hogue told a news conference outside his Macon office.
Greg McMichael did not commit murder. Greg McMichael is not a party to the crime of murder.
He declined to give details.
Attorneys for Arbery's parents have said security camera video from the same home construction site February 23 shows Arbery on the property right before the shooting.
They also say the footage shows Arbery committing no crimes.
English has said nothing was ever stolen from his property, though his security cameras recorded someone coming onto the property several times in recent months.
Travis McMichael, 34, called 911 to report a possible trespasser on English's property the night of February 11, less than two weeks before Arbery was shot. He described a "black male, red shirt and white shorts.
When I turned around and saw him and backed up, he reached into his pocket and ran into the house," Travis McMichael told the 911 operator.
"So I don't know if he's armed or not. But he looked like, he was acting like he was. So be mindful of that.
Defense attorneys for both McMichaels have cautioned against a rush to judgment in the case. The father and son are charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.
We know the ending," Jason Sheffield, an attorney for Travis McMichael, told reporters Thursday. "What we don't know is the beginning.
The men weren't arrested until May 7, more than two months after the shooting, after an outside prosecutor assigned to the case asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to get involved.
The day before the arrests, a cellphone video of the shooting leaked online, fueling a national outcry.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
