Justice Department Investigation Is Sought in Florida Teenager’s Shooting Death
Justice Department Investigation Is Sought in Florida Teenager’s Shooting Death
By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
Published: March 16, 2012
MIAMI — Nearly three weeks after an unarmed teenager was killed in a small city north of Orlando, stirring an outcry, a few indisputable facts remain: the teenager, who was black, was carrying nothing but a bag of Skittles, some money and a can of iced tea when he was shot. The neighborhood crime watch volunteer who got out of his car and shot him is white and Hispanic. He has not been arrested and is claiming self-defense.
George Zimmerman, The Shooter
Beyond that, however, little is clear about the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17.
As criticism of the police investigation mounts, so too do the calls for swift action in a case with heavy racial overtones. Protests grow larger each week, and lawyers for the family are now asking the Department of Justice to intervene. The case also brings into sharp focus Florida’s self-defense laws, which give people who feel threatened greater latitude in defending themselves than most states.
Trayvon Martin, The Victim
The police in of Sanford, where the shooting took place, are not revealing details of the investigation. Late Friday night, after weeks of pressure, the police played the 911 calls in the case for the family and gave copies to the news media. On the recordings, one shot, an apparent warning or miss, is heard, followed by a voice begging or pleading, and a cry. A second shot is then heard, and the pleading stops.
‘It is so clear that this was a 17-year-old boy pleading for his life, and someone shot him in cold blood,’ said Natalie Jackson, one of the Martin family lawyers.
Related:
911 calls detail neighbors’ terror during shooting of Florida teen
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 10:32 AM EDT, Sat March 17, 2012
(CNN) — Terrified neighbors implored dispatchers to send police as a voice in the background screamed for help in 911 recordings released after the shooting of an unarmed Florida teen.
Trayvon Martin, 17, was returning from the store to the Sanford home of his father’s fiancee when he was shot last month.
Authorities released seven 911 calls Friday, all of which describe hearing a gunshot.
The teen’s parents broke down when they heard the recordings detailing the last moments of his life, said their attorney, Benjamin Crump.
Update:
WFTV found out Zimmerman [the shooter] was arrested in 2005 for battery on a law enforcement officer. [Note: the above photo of Zimmerman is a mugshot from this incident.]
From: Family demands justice in deadly Sanford shooting of teen
Also read: The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin by Charles M. Blow.