The former lead prosecutor in the Ahmaud Arbery murder case resigned from his position at the Cobb County district attorney’s office and will no longer be part of the prosecution team.
Jesse Evans, former deputy chief assistant district attorney for Cobb County, announced his resignation Monday. The new lead prosecutor is senior ADA Linda Dunikoski, who was working on the case with Evans, Cobb DA Flynn Broady said in a statement.
“Jesse Evans has been an invaluable member of the Cobb DA’s team for many years, and we wish him every success in his next chapter,” Broady said. “Teams are greater than any single individual, and we will continue working as a team to seek justice in each and every case.”
Evans handled several high-profile cases in Cobb County, including the famous Justin Ross Harris case. Harris was convicted of murder in 2016 after intentionally leaving his 22-month-old son, Cooper, in a hot car for seven hours.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr appointed the Cobb DA’s office to the Arbery case last year after the DAs in the Brunswick and Waycross judicial circuits recused themselves. Arbery, a Black 25-year-old man, was shot and killed by two white men on Feb. 23, 2020, while jogging through his Satilla Shores neighborhood in Brunswick.
Three men are charged in his murder: William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., Gregory McMichael, and Travis McMichael. The men were arrested and indicted nearly three months after the murder on nine counts: malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
Gregory McMichael told the Glynn County Police Department last year, where he had been a police officer for several years, that he suspected Arbery of robbery.
Dunikoski, the new lead prosecutor, joined Broady’s office in 2019 after leaving the Fulton County DA’s office. She worked high-profile cases there including homicides, gang cases, and crimes against women and children, Broady said. She also helped prosecute the case involving the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating scandal in 2015.
“Linda has worked on the [Arbery] case since the Attorney General appointed the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office to act as District Attorney Pro Tempore,” Broady said. “I have complete confidence in her abilities.”
