George Zimmerman immediately went back into hiding after being acquitted of murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, his parents told Barbara Walters in an exclusive interview with ABC News, adding that they haven’t seen him since he left the courthouse.
The Zimmermans said that because of “an enormous amount of death threats,” they, too, have remained in hiding and still don’t feel safe enough to return to their home in Orlando, Fla.
Two days after a Florida jury found their 29-year-old son not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in the death of Martin, 17, Zimmerman’s parents, Robert Zimmerman Sr. and Gladys Zimmerman, sat down for their first television interview. They opened up about how their son’s murder trial has affected their family and how he and they are struggling to cope with the aftermath.
“Under the circumstances, we have not been able to talk to him,” Gladys Zimmerman told Walters. “To tell you the truth, we don’t trust anything, not even the phones.”
“We have had an enormous amount of death threats. George’s legal counsel has had death threats, the police chief of Sanford, many people have had death threats,” Robert Zimmerman said.”‘Everyone with Georgie’s DNA should be killed’ — just every kind of horrible thing you can imagine.”
George Zimmerman was accused of second-degree murder for shooting Martin on Feb. 26, 2012 inside a gated community in Sanford, Fla. While he admitted to shooting the unarmed teenager, Zimmerman maintained that Martin attacked him and he acted in self defense.
A jury made up of six women found Zimmerman not guilty of both second-degree murder and manslaughter charges Saturday after deliberating for more than 16 hours over two days.
Read the full story at ABCNews.com
