FILE – This undated file family photo shows Trayvon Martin. Martin was slain in the town of Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice. Neighborhood crime-watch captain George Zimmerman claimed self-defense and has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating. When he was shot, Martin was not the pint-sized baby-faced boy in photos that have been on front pages around the country. And Zimmerman wasn’t the hulking figure in the mugshot that has been making the newspapers. These photos are several years old, yet they may well have shaped public perceptions of the shooting. (AP Photo/Martin Family, File)
Just 21 days after his 17th birthday nine years ago, Trayvon Martin was gunned down by a neighborhood watch volunteer on Feb. 26, 2012. He would have turned 26 today.
Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, posted an emotional tweet Friday wishing her slain son a “happy heavenly birthday.”
“You left this world but NEVER my HEART,” Fulton wrote. “Rest in POWER Trayvon!! Not even the death of my SON/SUN will separate a Mother’s Love!!”
Social media also flooded with tweets paying homage to the unarmed teen who was fatally shot in a Sanford, Fla. neighborhood.
“While Trayvon is no longer with us, his name continues to inspire millions of people in the fight for justice and equality,” posted Grammy Award-winning rapper Common.
“Praying for Trayvon Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin,” tweeted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, Bernice King.
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Former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman confronted Martin as walked he back to his father’s home from a nearby convenience store when an argument ensued. Zimmerman fatally shot Martin and was later acquitted of charges in the teen’s death under Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
Thousands of people poured out into the streets in protest of the jury’s decision to clear Zimmerman in the fatal shooting, which brought life to the Black Lives Matter movement emerged.
BLM grew into a global organization with a mission to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes," according to the group's website.
After forming in response to Zimmerman’s acquittal, the movement also protested the more recent police-involved killings of other unarmed Black people including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.
