Florida juror says Zimmerman got away with murder

A juror said in an interview made available on Thursday that she feels neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman got away with murder for fatally shooting unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, but that there wasn’t enough evidence at trial to convict him under Florida law.

Zimmerman was acquitted earlier this month of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the slaying last year of the unarmed 17-year-old. The Miami teenager was shot and killed during a confrontation with Zimmerman. The case spawned heated national debates about racial profiling and the so-called Stand Your Ground self-defence laws in Florida and other states.

Juror B29 told ABC News that she favoured convicting Zimmerman of second-degree murder when deliberations began by the six-member, all-women jury.

“I was the juror that was going to give them a hung jury,” she said. “I fought to the end.”

But by the second day of deliberating, she realised there wasn’t enough proof to convict the 29-year-old neighbourhood watch volunteer of a crime.

“George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can’t get away from God,” she said. “And at the end of the day, he’s going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with.”

Zimmerman was seen publicly for the first time last week when he assisted a family after their vehicle flipped over on a Florida highway.