To be honest, as I interpret the law the feeling I have is that felony murder is inadequate for holding the gun to him if the actual killing was due to him wrestling the gun for control. While in that case he may have voided his right to self-defense as the instigator (once again, Arbery was suspected of committing a felony, that he had not is 20:20 hindsight) my feeling is a lesser murder or manslaughter charge might be more apt, but neither charge was given.

I remember hearing during the Chauvin case that the assault that leads to a persons death cannot normally be considered the felony in 2nd degree murder (felony murder). They won on the basis that Chauvin had committed a felony assault on Floyd in keeping him pinned to the ground with his knee on his neck, but experts said the felony in most states has to be disconnected from the thing that kills someone (not that I believe the pinning to the ground killed him, I believe it was a heart attack; it was the jury who concluded he was pinned to the ground as the felony and the nature of that assault killed him).

So if a person points a shotgun at someone and shoots, the felony can't be the pointing of the gun at the person.

So what we have here is something less than that: a potential felony with the intent to try and stop Arbery from coming towards their truck by pointing the gun at him and not firing. Then the firing coming from him having the gun wrestled from him. It just feels to me more like manslaughter or recklessness than felony murder? It doesn't feel like the same kind of thing as robbing a shop and accidentally murdering the shopkeeper (as the prosecutor equated it with). In that case, it may be the intent to commit theft (a second felony) not that the shopkeeper wrestles the gun after having it pointed at him. There is no separate, distinct felony (unless you can prove that he conspired to false imprison Arbery (which I believe is b/s based on what is known, it was coincidental), but his ability to claim self-defense is void.