On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American teenager.
Zimmerman, a 28-year-old multiracial man who identifies as Hispanic, was a neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community where Martin was visiting relatives at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman became suspicious of Martin and called police. During an altercation, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin with a pistol.
In a widely reported trial, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for Martin's death. He was later acquitted by a jury after saying he acted in self-defense. Martin was unarmed during the encounter. The incident was reviewed by the Department of Justice for potential civil rights violations, but no additional charges were filed.
Parties involved
Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Benjamin Martin was the son of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, who were divorced in 1999. He was a junior at Dr. Michael M. Krop High School and lived with his mother and older brother in Miami Gardens, Florida. On the day he was fatally shot, he and his father were visiting his father's fiancée and her son at her town home in Sanford, Florida. She lived in The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community Martin had visited several times before.
According to his autopsy, Martin was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 158 pounds (72 kg) at the time of his death.
George Zimmerman
George Michael Zimmerman was born in Manassas, Virginia, and is the son of Gladys (née Mesa) Zimmerman, born in Peru, and Robert Zimmerman Sr., a retired Virginia magistrate. At the time of the shooting, Zimmerman was employed as an insurance fraud investigator. He had been working toward an associate degree in criminal justice at Seminole State College. In one of his interviews with the police, he said his goal was to become a judge.
At the time of his arrest on April 11, 2012, Zimmerman's height was reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) and his weight 185 lb (84 kg), according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office Inmate Booking record. Zimmerman's height was shown as 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) and his weight at 200 lb (91 kg) on the Sanford Police Department Offense Report for February 26, 2012, the night of the shooting.
Zimmerman and his wife moved to The Retreat at Twin Lakes in 2009.
Sanford Police Department
Bill Lee had been chief of the Sanford Police Department for ten months when the shooting of Martin occurred. Prior to Lee becoming chief, the department had been accused of protecting relatives of police officers involved in violent incidents with black people. Trayvon Martin's case resulted in increased distrust between the police and Sanford's black community.
On March 22, Chief Lee temporarily stepped down from his position because of public criticism over his handling of the Trayvon Martin shooting. In April, the Sanford City Commission refused to accept Lee's resignation and stated that "Lee's spotless record showed there needed to be further review to determine if he failed in his duties." Lee was fired on June 20, 2012, by Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte. Lee responded by saying, "I continue to stand by the work performed by the Sanford Police Department in this tragic shooting, which has been plagued by misrepresentations and false statements for interests other than justice."
On June 26, 2012, the lead investigator of the case, Christopher Serino, was transferred from the Sanford Police Department's investigative unit and reassigned to the patrol division at his own request. Serino said he felt pressured by several of his fellow police officers to press charges against Zimmerman, although he believed there was not enough evidence to do so. One of the officers pressuring him was a friend of Martin's father.
In September 2012, Orlando TV station WFTV released a leaked memo in which interim police chief Richard Myers blamed the police department spokesperson, Sgt. David Morgenstern, for having mishandled the Trayvon Martin case. Myers removed Morgenstern from that position.
Martin family attorneys
Benjamin Crump, whose firm focuses on injury and civil rights cases, represented the legal interests of the Martin family.
The Martin family was also represented by Natalie Jackson, an Orlando civil rights attorney.
Background of the shooting
The Retreat at Twin Lakes is a 260-unit, gated, townhome community in Sanford, Florida. The population of the development at the time of the shooting was about 49% non-Hispanic white, 23% Hispanic (of any race), 20% black, and 5% Asian, according to Census figures. Both George Zimmerman and Martin's father's fiancée were renting homes in the development at the time of the shooting. Martin had been staying with his father's fiancée at The Retreat.
From January 1, 2011, through February 26, 2012, police were called to The Retreat at Twin Lakes 402 times. Crimes committed at The Retreat in the year prior to Martin's death had included eight burglaries, nine thefts, and one shooting. Twin Lakes residents said there were dozens of reports of attempted break-ins, which had created an atmosphere of fear in their neighborhood.
In September 2011, the Twin Lakes residents held an organizational meeting to create a neighborhood watch program. Zimmerman was selected by neighbors as the program's coordinator, according to Wendy Dorival, the Neighborhood Watch organizer for the Sanford Police Department.
Zimmerman had made nearly 50 calls to police between 2004 and 2012 to report various local disturbances, such as loud parties, open garage doors, potholes, and children playing in the street. Following break-ins in the neighborhood in 2011, Zimmerman's calls to police increasingly focused on reporting people he suspected of criminal activity.
During the months leading up to the February 26, 2012 shooting, Zimmerman called the police several times to report people he believed to be suspicious. On each of the calls, Zimmerman offered information about the race of the suspects only when specifically asked by the dispatcher to do so; his reports said that all were black males.
According to friends and neighbors of Zimmerman, three weeks prior to the shooting on February 26, Zimmerman called police to report a young man peering into the windows of an empty Twin Lakes home. By the time police arrived, the suspect had fled. On February 6, workers witnessed two young black men lingering in the yard of a Twin Lakes resident around the same time a new laptop and some gold jewelry was stolen from her home. The next day, police discovered the stolen laptop in the backpack of a young black man that Zimmerman identified as the same person he had spotted peering into windows on February 2.
Zimmerman had been licensed to carry a firearm since November 2009.
Shooting
On the evening of February 26, 2012, Zimmerman observed Martin as he returned to the Twin Lakes housing community after having walked to a nearby convenience store. At the time, Zimmerman was driving through the neighborhood on a personal errand.
At approximately 7:09 p.m., Zimmerman called the Sanford police non-emergency number to report a suspicious person in the Twin Lakes community. Zimmerman said, "We've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy ...". He described an unknown male "just walking around looking about" in the rain and said, "This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something." Zimmerman reported that the person had his hand in his waistband and was walking around looking at homes. He also mentioned that Martin was wearing a "dark hoodie, like a grey hoodie." On the recording, Zimmerman is heard saying, "These assholes, they always get away."
About two minutes into the call, Zimmerman said, "He's running". The dispatcher asked, "He's running? Which way is he running?" Noises on the tape at this point have been interpreted by some media outlets as the sound of a car door chime, possibly indicating Zimmerman opened his car door. Zimmerman later acknowledged exiting his vehicle and said he walked to a nearby T-intersection to see which direction Martin had gone and to obtain an address. The dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he was following him. When Zimmerman answered, "Yeah", the dispatcher said, "We don't need you to do that." Zimmerman responded, "Okay." Zimmerman asked that police call him upon their arrival so he could provide his location. Zimmerman ended the call at 7:15 p.m.
After Zimmerman ended his call with police, a violent encounter took place between him and Martin. It ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin 70 yards (64 m) from the rear door of the townhouse where Martin was staying.
Investigations
Zimmerman arrested and released
Sanford Police Officer Timothy Smith arrived at the scene at approximately 7:17 p.m., between 5 and 65 seconds after the fatal shot was fired. He reported finding Zimmerman standing near Martin, who was lying face down in the grass and unresponsive. At that time, Zimmerman stated to Smith that he had shot Martin and was still armed. Smith handcuffed Zimmerman and confiscated his black Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Smith observed that Zimmerman's back was wet and covered with grass, and he was bleeding from the nose and the back of his head.
Ricardo Ayala, the second officer to arrive that night, noticed Officer Smith had Zimmerman in custody, then observed Martin lying face down in the grass and attempted to get a response from him. At this time, Sgt. Anthony Raimondo arrived and together with Ayala began CPR. Paramedics from Sanford Fire and Rescue arrived and continued CPR, finally declaring Martin dead at 7:30 p.m.
Other officers who had arrived by this time secured the area and made contact with neighbors in the area and obtained statements from witnesses at the scene. The officers, who believed Zimmerman proceeded solely on foot before the attack, did not seize Zimmerman's vehicle until after his wife had moved it. Zimmerman was treated and released by paramedics while still at the scene of the incident. After placing Zimmerman in his police vehicle, Officer Smith heard Zimmerman say, "I was yelling for someone to help me, but no one would help me." Zimmerman was then transported to the Sanford Police Department where he was questioned by investigators for approximately five hours. The police determined that Zimmerman yelled for help at least 14 times in a 38-second span. The question of who was calling for help has been disputed since then by others and remains inconclusive .
Zimmerman arrived at the police station at 7:52 p.m., according to a police video. He was interviewed by Investigator Doris Singleton and by Detective Chris Serino. Crime Scene Tech D. Smith photographed his injuries and hands and collected gunshot residue. Zimmerman's weapon was placed into evidence. His clothes were also taken as evidence after his wife arrived with a change of clothes. During the interview, detectives falsely told Zimmerman that surveillance camera footage had captured the entire incident and Zimmerman appeared relieved at this news.
Five hours later, Zimmerman was released. The police chief said that there was no evidence to refute Zimmerman's claim of having acted in self-defense, and that under Florida's Stand Your Ground statute, the police were prohibited by law from making an arrest. The police chief also said that Zimmerman had a right to defend himself with lethal force.
The day after the shooting, Zimmerman performed a videotaped reenactment of the incident for police.
Some observers, such as University of Florida law professor and defense attorney Michelle Jacobs and Columbia University law professor Patricia Williams, said that the police failed to fully investigate the shooting when they did not test Zimmerman for drugs or alcohol intoxication. However, Miami police experts told the Miami Herald that homicide suspects are not typically tested for drugs or alcohol unless the suspect has been accused of having been driving while intoxicated.
Martin's body identified
Martin's body was taken to the morgue, where he was tagged as a John Doe, as he was not carrying any identification. The mobile phone found at the shooting scene was malfunctioning to the point that the police Cellebrite data recovery device could not access it.