Wanda Cooper-Jones

The U.S. Department of Justice is defending its decision to offer a plea deal to the convicted murderers of Ahmaud Arbery, but an attorney representing the deceased jogger's family is pushing back on the feds' narrative.

A Georgia judge rejected a proposed plea deal for the men who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery

A judge handed down life in prison sentences to each of Ahmuad Arbery's three convicted murderers - Greg and Travis McMichaels and William "Roddie" Bryan - for the brutal and brazen killing of the unarmed Black jogger in a case that centered on race and captivated the world's attention.

In the suit filed on Tuesday, Wanda Cooper-Jones and attorney's for Ahmaud Arbery's estate claim his civil rights were violated and that law enforcement officials worked to protect those who stole his life.

Ahmaud Arbery's mother wants her son's killers to get the death penalty, a departure from the forgiving reactions we've seen from other families of unarmed Black men killed by white people.