The family of 17 year old Trayvon Martin is pleading for answers and justice after the confessed killer of the unarmed teenager still walks free.
26 year old Neighborhood Watch captain George Zimmerman, who is white, is still a free man after shooting and killing Martin in The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford,Florida, a suburb of Orlando on February 26. Martin, a high school student who resided in Miami with his mother, was visiting his father in Sanford for the weekend. During halftime of the NBA All Star Game, Trayvon walked to the store to get some candy for his baby brother and on his way back he caught the attention of 26 year old Zimmerman. The self appointed Watch captain trailed Martin armed with a 9mm handgun.
At some point, Zimmerman called 911 and told the operator there was a “suspicious person in the area.” Soon after the call, an Martin had a physical altercation with Zimmerman, then neighbors heard gunshots. The Sanford Police found Martin less than 100 feet from his home with a pack of candy in one pocket and an iced tea in the other.
“What happened between him being confronted, up to the point where he got shot, nobody knows but him and that guy,” said Tracy Martin, the boy’s father. “I’m looking for justice for my family. I want answers but I don’t have any to give — not for his mother, his brothers or sisters. We don’t have nothing, but we want answers.”
Benjamin Crump, the family attorney, said the family is demanding that the Sanford Police arrest Zimmerman, and that the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office review the case and press charges. “They say they are still investigating,” Crump said. “I’m not sure what there is to investigate. What’s suspicious about this kid? That’s what the family is crying out, that our kid is like any other kid.”
A call and an email to Chief Bill Lee of the Sanford Police Department were not immediately returned on Thursday. A phone number listed for Zimmerman has been disconnected, and his current whereabouts are not known.
Lynn Bumpus-Hooper, a spokeswoman for the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office, said that the office has not received the case from the police, and until an arrest is made, it will not be involved.
-ShaBe Allah(@KingPenStatus)
