George Zimmerman trial: Trayvon Martin's mother "stunned" by not-guilty verdict
(CBS)The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin said she was "stunned" at Saturday's acquittal of George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain who had been charged in their son's shooting death.
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READ: Trayvon Martin Shooting: A timeline of events
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin spoke on CBS This morning, speaking publicly for the first time since the controversial verdict. Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin last year during an altercation in a Sanford, Fla. gated community. Prosecutors argued Zimmerman profile Martin as a criminal, while Zimmerman argued he shot in self-defense.
Zimmerman had been charged with second-degree murder, and also weighed a lesser offense of manslaughter. The six-woman panel reached their not-guilty verdict late Saturday, sparking protests across the country.
"I thought surely that he would be found guilty of second degree murder, manslaughter at the least. But I just knew that they would see that this was a teenager just trying to get home," Sybrina Fulton said. "This was no burglar. This was somebody's son that was trying to get home."Fulton said that she was "stunned" by the verdict. Fulton and Tracy Martin were not in the courtroom as the verdict was read.
She called on President Obama to investigate the case with a "fine-toothed comb," and also addressed remarks by a juror who said in an interview with CNN that her son played a large role in his own death.
"I don't think she knows Trayvon," Fulton said.
"Trayvon is not a confrontational person. Instead of placing the blame on the teenager, we need to place the blame on the responsible adult. There were two people involved. We had an adult who was chasing a kid and we had a kid who I feel was afraid."
