Detroit Lions’ safety Tracy Walker says his cousin Ahmaud Arbery ‘did not deserve that’
Detroit Lions’ safety Tracy Walker, cousin of Ahmaud Arbery, told ESPN that he has watched the video of his cousin’s death over a hundred times and still can’t make sense of it.
“He did not deserve that. And, you know God has a plan for everybody, man, but you know, it’s tough,” Walker said to ESPN.
Arbery was shot and killed while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia, in February when two men pursued him with the alleged intent of making a citizen’s arrest. Gregory and Travis McMichaels, seen in a video of the deadly shooting, were arrested in the death last week.
The video prompted an outcry for the arrest of the two from celebrities and the public. But many questions surrounding the delay of the arrests, the involvement of several district attorneys’ offices in the investigation, and why the video wasn’t released earlier by law enforcement remain.
Walker lived across the street from his cousin while they were in high school, ESPN reported. Walker said he knew Arbery almost his entire life, according to the report.
The athlete said he still has many questions about what happened in Brunswick that lead to his cousin’s death. “That’s why I watched it so many times,” Walker explained to ESPN. “I couldn’t grasp it. It’s such a gruesome video you want to know why.”
Walker remembers his cousin as “a beautiful soul.”
“He wasn’t a hateful person. He was not. I can’t name one person he had a beef with growing up,” Walked told ESPN. “Everybody loved Ahmaud because he was just a clown, a funny guy.”
“We want justice for Ahmaud,” Walker said. “We want the proper justice.”
CNN’s attempts to reach Gregory and Travis McMichael have been unsuccessful. Both appeared in court Friday, but it’s unclear whether they have legal representation.
Georgia’s attorney general announced Sunday that he had requested the US Department of Justice investigate the handling of the case, including communications between law enforcement agencies and the two district attorneys’ offices who ended up recusing themselves from the case.
