February 23: Ahmaud Arbery is shot dead in the street in Brunswick, Georgia.
Gregory and Travis McMichael had gone out in their car with guns to chase him because they mistook him for a burglar.
When they caught up to him, Travis got out of the car.
Jackie Johnson recused herself because McMichael used to work in her office
Gregory says they told Arbery that they wanted to talk to him and that he attacked Travis.
A struggle ensued and Travis fired his gun twice, killing Ahmaud, 25.
February 24: Detectives meet with George Barnhill, a district attorney from a neighboring judicial circuit, because the local district attorney planned to recuse herself because Gregory McMichael previously worked for her.
Barnhill tells police he believes the shooting was justifiable and tells them to continue investigating.
February 27: State Attorney General Chris Carr appoints Barnhill to handle the case after local District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself.
Carr has said he was unaware that Barnhill had already talked to police and offered an opinion on the case
George Barnhill said Ahmaud initiated the fight
Johnson, the Brunswick District Attorney, stepped down from the case because Gregory McMichael used to work in her office as an investigator.
Barnhill at first said he didn’t think the case merited charges because the McMichaels were acting lawfully by trying to carry out a citizen’s arrest, which is legal in Georgia.
He also said that the video ‘shows’ Arbery reaching for Travis’ gun.
The first shot is fired however when the pair are out of frame.
When the camera panned back to them, they were struggling again to the side of the vehicle.
Barnhill said Travis was standing his ground by firing three shots which hit Arbery.
April 1: Glynn County police receive the autopsy results and send them to Barnhill.
Barnhill recused himself because his son, also called George Barnhill, works in the office where McMichael used to
April 3: Barnhill writes a letter to police saying he plans to recuse himself because his son used to work with Gregory McMichael but also reiterates that he believes there is not sufficient probable cause to arrest the McMichaels.
April 7: Barnhill asks the attorney general to replace him in the case.
April 13: The attorney general appoints Tom Durden, another district attorney from the region, to take over the case.
May 5: Tom Durden is the third prosecutor to have the case come across his desk.
He said that his office would approach it without prior prejudice.
This week, he announced that he would not make a decision on whether or not to charge, and that he wants to convene a grand jury to take it on.
The case was given to Joyette Holmes on May 11
May 7: The GBI announced that it was bringing charges of murder and aggravated assault against the Gregory and Travis.
May 8: On what would have been Arbery’s 26th birthday, several hundred people gather outside the Glynn County courthouse to protest and sing “Happy Birthday” in his honor.
The McMichaels have their initial court appearances.
May 10: Georgia attorney general asks the US Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the case.
May 11: Department of Justice says it is weighing hate crime charges against the McMichaels.
Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr orders the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct a federal probe into why it took 74 days for the men to be arrested.
The case is also given to Joyette Holmes, a black prosecutor.
May 12: Georgia attorney general asks the GBI to investigate possible prosecutorial misconduct by Waycross DA George Barnhill and Brunswick DA Jackie Johnson.
An autopsy of Arbery is also released. It showed he was shot twice in the chest and had a third wound on a wrist. He had no drugs or alcohol in his body at the time of his death. The cause of death was rule a homicide.
May 14: Defense attorneys announce that they’ve been hired to defend the McMichaels.
May 21: A third man, William Bryan, 50, who filmed the fatal encounter, was arrested and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
June 4: A judge rules there is enough evidence to try all three men for murder.
It is also revealed that Travis McMichael used a racial epithet as Arbery as he lay on the ground.