Maddy, George Zimmerman Juror B29, Says He 'Got Away With Murder' Of Trayvon Martin
George Zimmerman Juror B29 told ABC News in an exclusive interview that Trayvon Martin’s killer “got away with murder,” saying the jury was forced to render a not guilty verdict because the prosecution couldn’t prove its case.
"George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God. And at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with," said Juror B29, who allowed ABC News to use only her first name, Maddy. "[But] the law couldn't prove it."
Maddy, a 36-year-old Puerto Rican woman who lived in Chicago at the time of the February 2012 shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon in Sanford, Fla., was the lone nonwhite juror on the all-women panel of six who decided Zimmerman’s fate earlier this month and acquitted him of murder and manslaughter charges in the black teen’s death.
Juror B29 said when the jury began deliberations, she was the only one who voted to convict Zimmerman, 29, of murder.
"I was the juror that was going to give them the hung jury. I fought to the end," Maddy told Robin Roberts in an interview that airs Thursday night on “World News.”
Juror B29 said she changed her mind after reviewing the evidence and found it was insufficient to put Zimmerman behind bars. She added that the jury believed Zimmerman committed a crime, but they had to set their personal feelings aside and follow the law.
"You can't put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty," Maddy said. “"We had to grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence."
The Seminole County resident said she wrestled with her decision to acquit Zimmerman. Five of the six jurors were mothers, including Maddy.
"I felt like I let a lot of people down, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Did I go the right way? Did I go the wrong way?'" she told Roberts. “As much as we were trying to find this man guilty…they give you a booklet that basically tells you the truth, and the truth is that there was nothing that we could do about it. I feel the verdict was already told."
Maddy added that she felt she let down Trayvon’s parents. The highly contentious verdict spurred nationwide protests among those who felt Zimmerman should have been found guilty. The case also set off a debate about racial profiling and race. Zimmerman is half white and half Hispanic while Trayvon was black.
"It's hard for me to sleep, it's hard for me to eat, because I feel I was forcefully included in Trayvon Martin's death. And as I carry him on my back, I'm hurting as much [as] Trayvon Martin's mother because there's no way that any mother should feel that pain," she said.
Maddy is the second juror to address the media. Juror B37 spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper shortly after the June 15 verdict and said that Zimmerman’s heart “was in the right place.” Other jurors didn’t see it that way and said Juror B37 didn’t speak for the entire panel.
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