Ahmaud Arbery died from multiple gunshot wounds, autopsy confirms

Trigger Warning: Gun Violence, Racial Violence

As the investigation into racial violence victim Ahmaud Arbery's murder continues, results of the autopsy conducted on his body have been released. The autopsy report, filed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, confirmed that the 25-year-old did indeed die as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, ABC News reports. Over the past few days, critics who refuse to accept the white supremacist agenda of the two armed white men who gunned him down have taken to social media to shed doubt on the circumstances of Arbery's death. Therefore, the results of his autopsy have arrived just in time.

Issued by the Glenn County coroner's office on April 1, the report provides in-depth details about the wounds Arbery sustained. Not only were there several injuries throughout his body, but 11 shotgun pellets were removed from the victim's chest. The coroner affirmed, "This 25-year-old black male, Ahmaud Arbery, died of multiple shotgun wounds sustained during a struggle for the shotgun." Further to this, a toxicology report has confirmed that there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in his body. The results have come as a blow to those attempting to find fault in Arbery's motives - rather than the motives of the perpetrators of crime.

Gregory McMichael, 64, a former Glynn County police officer, and his son, Travis, 34, were arrested last Thursday night after a video recording of the shooting surfaced online. The two armed white men were waiting for Arbery in their truck and shot him as he jogged down the street. At first, local prosecutors did not press charges as they claimed there was "insufficient probable cause." However, the now-viral video galvanized the fight for justice. Arbery's family, activists, and other leaders across the country demanded that officials launch an investigation. The McMichaels have since been charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Questions have since been raised about how the case has been handled thus far. On Monday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr appointed Joyette Holmes of the Cobb County, Georgia Judicial Circuit, to take charge of the case. This is after two prosecutors recused themselves from the case. The Attorney General has also called on the United States Department of Justice to investigate the handling of the case. "We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset," he stated. "The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers."

Nonetheless, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson (who originally handled Arbery's case) was confident that any investigation into her office's handling of the case would show that it had "acted appropriately." She declared in a statement, "There is a public misconception about this case due to false allegations against our office by those with an agenda. Our obligation has been, and will always be, to honor, protect, and abide by the law."