BRUNSWICK, Ga. — During closing arguments Monday in the murder trial for the three white men involved in fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery, the prosecution argued that none of the suspects had cause to make a citizen's arrest when they saw him in their neighborhood.

Linda Dunikoski told jurors in her closing arguments Monday that the three defendants decided to pursue Arbery "because he was a Black man running down their street."

The closing arguments come after both the prosecution and defense concluded arguments to the jury last week. Reports also emerged last week that a lawyer for one of the men on trial sought a plea deal before the defense rested its case.

According to prosecutors, Arbery was jogging in Brunswick on Feb. 23, 2020, when he briefly stopped inside a home under construction.

When the McMichaels saw Arbery in the area, they armed themselves and chased after him in a pickup truck because they believed him to be responsible for a series of break-ins in the neighborhood.

Video from the incident showed the McMichaels drive up beside Arbery. A struggle followed for a few moments before Travis McMichael fired his gun, and Arbery stumbled to the ground.

Defense attorneys insist the three men committed no crimes and that Travis McMichael only fired his weapon after a "violent encounter" with Arbery. The defense has also argued that the men were empowered to take Arbery into custody thanks to a since-repealed citizen's arrest law that was in effect at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors would not file charges in connection with the shooting for nearly three months and only after the video of the shooting became public.

Between the shooting and the video's release, the case passed between several judicial circuits and district attorneys. Some of them worked with Greg McMichael during his time working as a police officer and investigator.

One ex-prosecutor, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, has been indicted for misconduct related to her work on the case.

The McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder on May 7, 2020. Bryan was arrested two weeks later.

Warning: This article contains graphic details. Discretion is advised.

Jurors were shown graphic, closeup police photos Monday of the gunshot wounds that killed Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man who was slain after being chased by white men in pickup trucks who saw him running in their Georgia neighborhood.

Glynn County police Sgt. Sheila Ramos walked the jury through dozens of crime scene photos she took about an hour after the shooting on Feb. 23, 2020. She said she collected two spent shotgun shells at the scene, and investigators found a third fired shell still inside the bloodstained 12-gauge shotgun.

Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery Sr., left the courtroom before graphic photos of his son's body were shown in open court. Wanda Cooper-Jones, the slain man's mother, stayed and could be heard exhaling quietly as Ramos identified closeup images of a gaping shotgun wound in her son's chest.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael armed themselves and used a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after they spotted him running in their neighborhood. A neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, joined the chase and took cellphone video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery in the street at close range.

No arrests were made for more than two months, until the video of the killing leaked online and sparked a national outcry, deepening a national reckoning over racial injustice. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police. Both McMichaels and Bryan were soon charged with murder and other crimes.

Defense attorneys said the men were justified to chase and attempt to detain Arbery because he had been recorded by security cameras inside a nearby home under construction and they suspected he was a burglar. They say Travis McMichael fired in self-defense when Arbery attacked him with fists and tried to grab his gun.

Several jurors could be seen squirming in their seats as Ramos showed Arbery's body lying in the street under a bloodstained covering. Other images showed the cover pulled back and his shirt raised so she could photograph gunshot wounds to his wrist as well as grievous injuries to his chest and underneath one of his arms.

Ramos said Arbery had nothing in his pockets — no keys, cellphone, wallet or ID. Police identified his body using his fingerprints, she said.

She also photographed a home near the shooting scene where one of the shotgun blasts sent a projectile through a front window and into an inside wall. No one at the home was injured.

The jury seated Friday for the trial is disproportionately white. Prosecutors complained at the end of jury selection last week that several Black potential jurors were excluded because of their race, leaving only one Black juror on the panel of 12.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said he found that “intentional discrimination” by defense attorneys appeared to have shaped jury selection. But he said Georgia law limited his authority to intervene.

Opening statements will take place Friday in the trial of three white men in Brunswick, Georgia, who are charged with chasing and fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man.

The death in February 2020 was recorded on video and caused a national outcry.

Jurors are to be sworn in Friday for the trial of father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, who have been charged with murder and other crimes.

Jury selection concluded Wednesday when the judge declined to override decisions on the final makeup of the jury. The 12-person panel consists of 11 white jurors and one Black juror.

While the prosecution objected and Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley agreed there appeared to be "intentional discrimination," he said he was limited by Georgia law because defense attorneys stated non-racial reasons for excluding Black panelists from the jury, The Associated Press reports.

According to prosecutors, Arbery was jogging in Brunswick on the day of the shooting when he briefly stopped inside a home under construction.

When the McMichaels saw Arbery in the area, they armed themselves and chased after him in a pickup truck because they believed him to be responsible for a series of break-ins in the neighborhood.

Video from the incident showed the McMichaels drive up beside Arbery. A struggle followed for a few moments before Travis McMichael fired his gun, and Arbery stumbled to the ground.

Defense attorneys insist the three men committed no crimes and that Travis McMichael only fired his weapon after a "violent encounter" with Arbery.

Prosecutors would not file charges in connection with the shooting for nearly three months and only after the video of the shooting became public.

Between the shooting and the video's release, the case passed between several judicial circuits and district attorneys. Some of them worked with Greg McMichael during his time working as a police officer and investigator.

One ex-prosecutor, Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jackie Johnson, has been indicted for misconduct related to her work on the case.

The McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder on May 7, 2020. Bryan was arrested two weeks later.