Why Trayvon Martin's killer isn't under arrest: 3 theories

A self-styled neighborhood security guard shot and killed an unarmed black youth — and might very well avoid punishment

Trayvon Martin was walking through an Orlando-area gated community when a self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman, claiming he was acting in self defense, shot and killed the unarmed teen.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Courtesy the Martin family)

On Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead in Sanford, Fla., by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, 28. Martin, who is black, was walking from 7-Eleven to his father's fiancée's home in the Orlando-area gated community, carrying a pack of Skittles, a can of iced tea, and his cellphone. According to 911 tapes reluctantly released by Sanford police on March 16, Zimmerman told police dispatchers he was concerned about a "real suspicious guy," a "black male" walking around the neighborhood. "These assholes always get away," he added, before chasing after Martin, despite the dispatcher telling him not to. A scuffle of some kind ensued, followed by screaming and a gunshot. Late March 19, following a days-long outcry, Florida state law enforcement and the FBI said they would open investigations. But so far, Zimmerman, who is half Latino, has not been arrested or charged for killing an unarmed youth. Why? Here, three theories:

1. Florida's "Shoot First" gun law makes prosecution futile

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