Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, inside a gated community in Sanford, Florida on February 26, 2012. Martin was unarmed, walking back from a convenience store. Zimmerman, who had called police to report Martin as suspicious before following him, claimed he acted in self-defense during a physical altercation. Unlike most cases in this archive, this one did reach trial: charges were filed after weeks of public pressure, and a jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter in July 2013. The county medical examiner's report is unambiguous on the underlying facts — Martin died of a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death is listed as homicide. This case is classified here as Unresolved — No Conviction, not Unsolved: the distinction matters, since a full trial did take place and its outcome is a matter of public record, unlike the majority of cases in this archive where no charges were ever filed at all. The U.S. Department of Justice separately investigated and did not bring federal civil rights charges. No one has ever been held criminally responsible for Martin's death.

Sanford, FL · Seminole County County

• 2012: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The shooting and Martin's death, per the Sanford Police Department investigation and subsequent trial record.
• The Seminole County Medical Examiner's Office found Martin died of a gunshot wound to the chest, with manner of death listed as homicide — a factual, forensic finding distinct from the jury's later legal verdict on Zimmerman's culpability.
• Zimmerman had called police non-emergency lines to report Martin as suspicious and followed him despite being told by a dispatcher that doing so was not necessary, per the recorded call played at trial.
• Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder more than six weeks after the shooting, following public pressure and the appointment of a special prosecutor.
• An all-women jury acquitted Zimmerman of both second-degree murder and manslaughter on July 13, 2013, after roughly 16 hours of deliberation — a full trial that reached a final verdict, unlike the majority of cases in this archive where no charges were ever filed.
• The U.S. Department of Justice investigated separately for potential federal civil rights violations and ultimately did not bring charges.

• The specific sequence of the physical altercation between Zimmerman and Martin — including who initiated contact — was disputed at trial and never independently established beyond the acquittal.
• Whether racial assumptions specifically motivated Zimmerman's decision to follow Martin has never been legally established, though it was central to public debate about the case.
• Full details of the DOJ's federal civil rights review, including what evidence it considered insufficient, have not been made public in detail.

• CNN — “George Zimmerman found not guilty of murder in Trayvon Martin's death”
• NPR — “Jury Acquits Zimmerman Of All Charges”
• Al Jazeera — “Zimmerman acquitted of Trayvon Martin murder”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs