POLICE: VEGAS MOM, SON SEARCHED FOR VEHICLE BEFORE SHOOTING

[Tommy_Carcetti]

61. I can't speak for the prosecution and its strategy.

However, having followed the case very closely and being quite familiar with its facts, I've come up with a strong hypothesis as to what happened.

Trayvon began to run when Zimmerman (a complete stranger to him) got out of his car after having followed him closely in his car up to that point. Trayvon ultimately ran down into the alleyway (the same alleyway where he would ultimately be killed) between the townhouses in order to evade and hide from Zimmerman. While that would have seemingly placed him near the home where he had been staying, keep in mind it was night time, raining and the townhomes faced out from the alley way. So a person not regularly familiar with the neighborhood such as Trayvon probably wouldn't have been able to identify the specific townhome where he was staying from the back of the alleyway.

So at this point, I believe Trayyon--thinking he'd lost Zimmerman--starts to backtrack back up the alley so he could continue to the street side of the townhomes, where he could identify the home where he was staying.

And I believe Zimmerman did not immediately return to his car but instead kept snooping around to determine where Trayvon had left. Not having found Trayvon, he believed he had left the neighborhood entirely, so he slowly began to return to his car.

Unfortunately, as Trayvon is backtracking up the alleyway, he comes across Zimmerman returning to his car. This happens around the top of the alleyway (at the "T" as it was called). Trayvon still has no idea who Zimmerman was or why he was after him (as Zimmerman never identified himself to Trayvon).

Zimmerman is still of the belief that Trayvon is some sort of "fucking punk" "up to no good" and frustrated that "these assholes, they always get away", and knowing police were already on the way, decides to attempt to grab Trayvon in order to detain him until police arrive.

Trayvon naturally and instinctively attempts to fight off Zimmerman's attempt to grab and detain him. (Again, note he still has no idea as to who Zimmerman was or why he was after him). At some point in order to get Zimmerman off him, he makes contact to Zimmerman's nose, knocking Zimmerman to the ground.

The two continue to tussle on the ground. At this point, Zimmerman--already agitated, first from having a major argument with his wife earlier that day and now by this perceived "thug" supposedly causing problems in his neighborhood simply by his mere presence--figures the best way to stop Trayvon from resisting would be to pull his gun on him. However, this doesn't pacify Trayvon but only frightens him more--this strange man who had been stalking and chasing him and who attempted to grab him now had a gun pointed at him.

So Trayvon at this point desperately attempts to call for help. Zimmerman--who we all know now is incredibly impulsive and aggressive when his buttons are pushed--begins to panic, given that neighbors might not take kindly to the image of him pointing a gun at a kid screaming for help. The fight needed to stop immediately.

So Zimmerman pulls the trigger and shoots Trayvon, immediately silencing Trayvon's screams. He then pulls himself up and begins to concoct in his mind the self-defense story to the police he knows are already coming. Since Zimmerman still had no clue that Trayvon was a welcome guest in the neighborhood and was doing nothing more than innocently walking him from the store, he assumes he was a "thug" and that the police would take the word of the neighborhood watchman over someone he perceives as a "thug".

20-20 hindsight given Zimmerman's numerous brushes with the law subsequent to his trial, and new information about the state of Zimmerman's domestic life the night of the shooting, only bolsters this theory more. Although I had it pegged during the trial.