The Murder of Trayvon Martin

Jan. 7, 2012

Trayvon Martin

If George Zimmerman had obeyed the police dispatcher’s directive to remain in his car and to wait for patrol officers to arrive to question the person in the “hoodie,” Trayvon Martin would not have been shot to death.

by Don Fulsom and Alisha Dingus

When George Zimmerman goes on trial in the sensational Trayvon Martin murder case so will the“Stand Your Ground” laws and racial profiling.

Twenty-eight-years-old at the time he shot and killed 17-year-old Martin, Zimmerman now wears a monitoring device on his ankle and hides in near-seclusion at a secret Florida location. Fearful for his life, Zimmerman dons bulletproof apparel for his rare forays into public places, according to his lawyer.

Free on $1 million bail, Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the February 26, 2012 shooting of Martin.  His trial is set for June 10, 2013.

The nighttime slaying took place in a middle-class, gated subdivision called “The Retreat at Twin Lakes” in the central Florida town of Sanford.  Martin, as he had several times previously, was there with his father visiting his father’s financee and her son. He had the free time to be there due to being suspended from his high school at the time. That evening Martin had gone out alone to buy some Skittles and ice tea and was returning from the store when his fatal encounter with Zimmerman took place.