In the afternoon of February 23, 2020 then-District Attorney Jackie Johnson was informed that "jogger" Ahmaud Arbery had earlier that afternoon been shot and killed by the son of her former lead investigator.
This former work relationship raising a potential conflict of interest, Johnson immediately referred the case over to a DA from a different county.
Those few hours, in which Johnson made no substantive decisions related to the Arbery shooting other than the conflict referral, was the entirety of her official involvement in the handling of this matter.
The Georgia Attorney General was duly advised of this conflict referral on February 27th, 2020, three days after the shooting.