October 5, 1983 | George Michael Zimmerman is
born in Manassas, Virginia. |
February 5, 1995
|
Trayvon Martin is born in
Miami, Florida. |
2005 |
Florida enacts a "Stand Your
Ground" law which permits the use of deadly force when
someone reasonably feels at risk of serious injury in a
confrontation. Also in 2005, George Zimmerman is
arrested for shoving an undercover alcohol-control agent
and has a restraining order issued against him at the
request of his ex-fiancee. |
2009
|
George Zimmerman and his wife
rent a townhouse in the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford,
Florida. In November 2009, Zimmerman is issued a
license to carry a firearm. |
September
2011 |
Following a series of
burglaries, thefts, and a single shooting, Twin Lakes
residents hold an organizational meeting to form a
neighborhood watch program. George Zimmerman is
selected as the program's coordinator. |
February 2012 |
Trayvon Martin travels to
Sanford with his father to visit his father's fiancee at
her townhouse in the Retreat at Twin Lakes. |
February 26,
2012 |
In the evening, Trayvon Martin
walks to a neighborhood 7-11. As he returns to the
Twin Lakes housing community about 7:15 P.M.,
he is observed by George Zimmerman, who was driving
through the neighborhood. Zimmerman calls the
Sanford PD to report "a real suspicious guy" who "looks
like he's up to no good." When Martin begins to run,
Zimmerman sets off on foot chasing him. The police
dispatcher tells Zimmerman, "We don't need you to do
that." After Zimmerman ends his call, a violent
confrontation takes place between Zimmerman and
Martin. When it is over, Martin is dead, having been
shot in the chest, and Zimmerman has head injuries and
cuts. Two minutes after the shooting, police arrive
on the scene. Zimmerman is taken into custody and
questioned for five hours before being released. |
February 27,
2012 |
Zimmerman performs a videotaped reenactment of the incident for police...Martin's father, Tracy Martin, files a Missing Persons report. |
February 28,
2012 |
Police arrive at the condo of
Tracy Martin's fiancee and Martin identifies photographs
of his dead son. |
March 8, 2012 |
A family medical practice that
examined Zimmerman after the shooting send investigators a
medical report detailing the injuries sustained by
Zimmerman...CBS provides the first national news coverage
of the case. |
March 12,
2012 |
Sanford's Police Chief Bill Lee
turns the investigation of the case over to the Florida
State Attorney's office for review, saying at the time
there was not enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman. |
March 13,
2012 |
Sanford PD Detective Chris
Serino sends a capias request to the state's
attorney recommending charges of negligent manslaughter
against Zimmerman. The request states that the "the
encounter...was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman" and
that there "was no indication that Trayvon Martin was
involved in any criminal activity at the time." |
March 16,
2012 |
Serino tells the Orlando
Sentinel that Zimmerman's account was not
contradicted by his investigation and that "the decedent
was the primary aggressor in the whole event." 911 calls
from the night of the shooting are released to the public. |
March 20,
2012 |
State attorney Norm Wolfinger
announces that a grand jury will be convened to
investigate the death of Martin. The U.S. Justice
Department also announces that it is opening its own
investigation of the incident. |
March 22,
2012 |
Florida Governor Rick Scott
asks the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct
an investigation of the shooting....A petition on
Change.org calling for the arrest of Zimmerman has over
1.3 million supporters....Chief Lee announces he is
"temporarily" stepping down as head of the Sanford PD. |
March 23,
2012 |
President Obama makes his first
public comments on the Martin shooting, saying "If I had a
son, he'd look like Trayvon Martin." |
March 26,
2012 |
One month after the shooting,
rallies take place around the country demanding justice
for Trayvon Martin's death. |
April 2, 2012 |
Police interview Rachel
Jeantel, Martin's girlfriend, who was on the phone with
Martin shortly before he was shot. |
April 7, 2012 |
Zimmerman launches a website to
raise funds for his defense. |
April 9, 2012 |
Prosecutor Angela Corey
announces that she will not present the case to a grand
jury. |
April 11,
2012 |
Zimmerman is charged with
second-degree murder. He turns himself in. |
April 20,
2012 |
Zimmerman's bond is set at
$150,000. In the bond hearing, Zimmerman apologizes
to the Martin family for the death of their son. |
April 23,
2012 |
Zimmerman is released on bail
and enters a plea of "not guilty." |
June 2, 2012 |
After Zimmerman's bond was
revoked (because of a misrepresentation at the initial
bond hearing concerning finances), Zimmerman is jailed at
the John Polk Correctional Facility. |
June 20, 2012 |
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee
is fired. |
July 6, 2012 |
Zimmerman is released from jail
after a new bond is set at $1 million. |
July 18, 2012 |
Zimmerman appears in his first
television interview since the shooting. He tells
Shawn Hannity of Fox News that he would not do anything
differently. |
August 30,
2012 |
Judge Debra Nelson is assigned
to replace Judge Kenneth Lester who, a Florida appeals
court found, had made statements that jeopardized
Zimmerman's right to a fair trial. |
December 7,
2012 |
Zimmerman sues NBC for editing
the call he placed to the Sanford PD the night of the
shooting in a way that made him appear to be racist, and
engaging in racial profiling. |
March 5, 2013 |
Defense attorney Mark O'Mara
decides not to request a Stand Your Ground immunity
hearing for Zimmerman. |
April 30,
2013 |
Zimmerman waives his right to a
Stand Your Ground immunity hearing (which, if successful,
would have meant no criminal trial could proceed).
His attorneys instead decide to present a self-defense
case in the criminal trial. |
May 28, 2013 |
Judge Nelson rules on a variety
of pretrial motions. She excludes testimony about
fights Martin may have been involved in before the
shooting, denies a request to have the jury travel to the
crime scene, and orders that jurors will remain anonymous. |
June 20, 2013 |
An all-female six-person jury
is selected. |
June 24, 2013 |
Opening arguments are presented
in the trial of George Zimmerman. |
July 5, 2013 |
The Zimmerman defense team
begins presenting its case to the jury. |
July 12, 2013 |
Jury deliberations begin in the
Zimmerman trial. |
July 13, 2013
|
The jury finds Zimmerman not
guilty. |
July 16, 2013 |
Juror B37 is interviewed by
Anderson Cooper on CNN. She provides details about
the jury's deliberations |
July 17, 2013 |
George Zimmerman helps rescue several people from an overturned vehicle in Sanford. |
July 19, 2012 |
President Obama speaks about the trial and race relations in America in a twenty-minute speech at the White House. |
September 9,
2013 |
Police respond to a 911 call
from Zimmerman's estranged wife after Zimmerman allegedly
threatens her and her father and punches her father in the
face. Zimmerman's wife decides not to press charges. |
November 18,
2013 |
Zimmerman's girlfriend calls
police after he points a shotgun at her and damages some
of her belongings. Zimmerman is charged with
aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic violence
battery, and criminal mischief. Three weeks later,
Zimmerman's girlfriend asks that charges against him be
dropped. |
September 9,
2014 |
Zimmerman allegedly threatens
to kill a driver during a road rage incident in Lake Mary,
Florida. The incident is reported to police, but the
other driver declines to press charges. |
October 2,
2014 |
According to numerous reports,
Justice Department officials decide not to bring federal
civil rights charges against Zimmerman for the Martin
killing, citing insufficient evidence to support the
charges. |
February 14,
2015 |
The Justice Department closes
its investigation into the Trayvon Martin killing without
filing any charges. |