On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin had just purchased a pack of skittles in his hometown of Sanford Florida. This normal act of buying a snack at the convenience store was the last luxury of his life. As Trayvon was walking through the gated community of Twin Lakes, he was spotted by George Zimmermen, which resulted in a physical and fatal confrontation. This event very deeply affected me as a younger child in the 5th grade and still does till this day.
When Trayvon passed on the night of his murrder, he was only 17 years old. Earlier that night he was strolling through the neighborhood of Twin Lakes. He had just finished leaving the local 7-11 not too far from his father’s fiance's house. Trayvon had just bought a bag of skittles which he was holding in his hoodie while walking back to his home.
The majority of news outlets and case reports say that at 7:09 George Zimmmermen was running some errands and decided to drive through the Twin Lake neighborhood. According to his testimony George Zimmermen saw a dark silhouette he did not recognize in the neighborhood. Frightened, George decided to rely on his neighborhood watch training and called the police.
When he called he gave the description of a black male with a grey hoodie on. George, while on the phone call, says ‘’these a$$holes are always getting away.’’ At this moment George lost sight of Trayvon. George, still being on the call, tries to pursue the last location of Trayvon, which was in between the buildings of Twin Lake.
George Zimmermen, still on the phone, was told by police to wait at some mail boxes nearby. Instead of complying with the Police Department, he then proceeded to go towards Trayvon Martin. This is when Trayvon was shot once by George Zimmerman by the concealed weapon he carried.
When reading the story of Trayvon Martin, I think about the fact that i am 17 years old. I’m a part of a majority that is affected by this. How police department’s usually target youth around this age and even younger, with cases like Tamir Rice, where 2 years later he would be shot and killed in Cleveland, Ohio for carrying a toy gun.
These systems of jail are set up from the beginning. Our schools are known to have a system targeting troubled youth. The amount of money for just 1 inmate even for a juvenile is 50,000$. I know this from past experience being that I was once a troubled youth as well, but fortunately I had the grace of coming home with intentions of becoming better from the experience.