Rachel Jeantel, the star witness for prosecutors in the George Zimmerman trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin, spoke to CNN's Piers Morgan in an interview following the non-guilty verdict this weekend. She said her reacton was disappointed, angry, questioning and mad.
The 19-year-old was the last person to talk to Martin before his altercation with Zimmerman on the night of Feb 26. 2012 that ended with him being shot to death. She had testified that Martin told her that he was being followed while he was walking through a gated neighborhood in Florida. She told Morgan that Martin was trying to get home. "And he was.. and that's a fact," she said.
Zimmerman was acquitted for the second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin on July 13, which had sparked outrage across the nation. The neighborhood watch volunteer shot and killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin after an altercation last year.
Jeantel spoke of how Zimmerman should have testified in his own trial, saying: "If you were a real man, you would have stood on the stage and said what happen."
She recalled her friend Martin, whom she has known since elementary school. "He was a calm, chill, loving person."
Jeantel spoke of Don West, the defense attorney, who had cross-examined her for hours on the witness stand during the first week of the trial. She told Morgan that she cannot give an opinion on West because her parents raised her well, saying "He's lucky I'm a Christian."
The case has been filled with racial tensions after it was claimed Zimmerman racially profiled Martin.
However, Zimmerman's defense team argued that he acted in self defense and that he responded with justified deadly force after he was made to fear for his own life after being attacked by Martin.
The jury had been considering whether to convict Zimmerman of second degree murder, and to do so they would have had to believe beyond reasonable doubt that Zimmerman acted with ill will, spite or hatred.
Prosecutors attempted to show Zimmerman as a violent man, a wannabe police officer, and someone who regularly racially profiled innocent youth.
In response the defense team attempted to show the prosecution had not made out their case, and that Martin himself was a drug user, who was repeatedly in trouble, liked to fight, and had even been suspended from school for skipping classes.
See the interview video below:
