Who are Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman?

Zimmerman vs. Trayvon

George Zimmerman's home and the house where Martin was staying were in the same complex. 

On 26 February 2012, George Zimmerman was patrolling the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated neighbourhood in the city of Sanford, Florida, as part of the volunteer neighbourhood watch he had founded. Trayvon Martin was walking back from a store to his father's fiancee's house. By the end of their encounter Trayvon Martin was dead and George Zimmerman's life had changed forever. What actually happened that night has been intensely debated ever since.

Trayvon Martin

The 17-year-old high school junior lived in Miami.

His parents divorced in 1999, and Martin lived with his mother. He had played youth football. According to a family member, Martin studied aviation through a part-time school programme, hoping to fly or become an engineer.

In the week before his death he was on suspension from school for reportedly possessing a plastic bag with traces of marijuana. His father, Tracy Martin, told USA Today he hoped a short stay in Sanford, Florida, would teach his son a lesson.

Martin also tweeted, changing his username at least once and writing thousands of tweets about his high school, sex and his favourite snacks. Friends and teachers at Michael D Krop Senior High described him as a "funny guy" and "very creative". Without ID on him at the time of the shooting, Martin was labelled as a "John Doe" by Sanford police and at the morgue until his father reported him missing.

George Zimmerman 

George Zimmerman, 29, the son of a white father and Hispanic mother, was born in Virginia and moved to Sanford in 2009 with his wife. Mr Zimmerman had asked a neighbour in Virginia for a recommendation letter to a police academy programme, but never applied. Records show he had previously worked at a car dealership and sold insurance, but what he was doing at the time of the shooting is unclear. A defence witness has said Mr Zimmerman was in the process of starting a business. He also attended a citizen's police academy with the Seminole Sheriff's Office.

A spokeswoman described the once-a-week scheme that totaled 14 hours as an educational tool to teach residents about police work, not a training programme.
In 2005, Mr Zimmerman was arrested for shoving a state alcohol agency officer near a bar.
The charge was later dropped when he agreed to fulfill a "pre-trial diversion" programme for first-time offenders, which usually involves fines and anger management classes.
Shortly after, a girlfriend took out a restraining order, following an argument where each accused the other of being the aggressor.

Mr Zimmerman possessed a concealed-carry permit for a 9mm handgun.
As a neighbourhood watch volunteer, he had called Sanford's police department 46 times over the previous eight years. A friend told the court he had taught Mr Zimmerman firearm safety.

According to neighbours, Mr Zimmerman organised the neighbourhood watch during a rash of burglaries in the community. One neighbour said the 29-year-old had caught a thief while patrolling the neighbourhood.

However, Local police muddy the water by suggesting that the young black teen may have been the aggressor in the controversial Florida shooting that left him dead. Police say.

George Zimmerman in a 2005 booking photo

Zimmerman claims he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin only after the unarmed teen attacked him.

The Florida shooting case that has roiled the nation for weeks took an unexpected turn Monday, when police released the shocking account of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26. As protesters in Sanford, Fla. — where the 17-year-old was killed — marked the one-month anniversary of the killing by demanding Zimmerman's arrest, police revealed that Zimmerman claims it was Trayvon who attacked first, punching Zimmerman in the face, jumping on him, and repeatedly banging the 28-year-old's head on the ground.

Here's a guide to the latest allegations:

How did Zimmerman and Trayvon confront each other?
Trayvon's supporters have long maintained that Zimmerman aggressively approached Trayvon out of unwarranted racial bias. They say that Zimmerman was driving in his SUV when he saw Trayvon, who was black, walking with a pack of Skittles, a can of iced tea, and his cellphone. According to 911 tapes reluctantly released by Sanford police, 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 ensued — the details of which have been somewhat hazy until now.

What does Zimmerman's camp say?
Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner, has spoken out for the first time, saying his client shot in self-defense after Trayvon attacked him. Zimmerman himself has not spoken out, but the Orlando Sentinel reports that Zimmerman told police he was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, punched Zimmerman in the nose, then climbed on top of Zimmerman and "slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered."

Is there evidence that Trayvon was the aggressor?
Zimmerman's family and friends — including former news anchor Joe Oliver, who has defended his longtime friend — claim newly released audio from a 911 call placed by an eyewitness provides evidence that Zimmerman, not Trayvon, was screaming for help. But it's hardly definitive: Some witnesses say it's Trayvon screaming. Others say they never heard any commotion or struggle before the gun went off.

Anything else?
A 13-year-old witness says he saw a man fitting Zimmerman's description bloodied and on the ground before he heard the gunshot.

Is there evidence that Zimmerman attacked first?
Trayvon's girlfriend, who spoke with the teen moments before the incident, has attested to Trayvon being targeted, and said she believes Zimmerman followed Trayvon, pushed him, knocked him down, and shot him without cause.

What should we make of all this?
We still don't know exactly what happened that night, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway, and we should be careful before rushing to judgment. "There is a disturbing tendency in high profile criminal cases for the public, egged on by the constant media coverage and the incessant drone of the talking heads, to rush to judgment long before it's warranted." Let's all just take a deep breath and "back off on judging the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman based on incomplete evidence and let the system do its job."

Sources: ABC News, The Atlantic, Christian Science Monitor, CNN, Orlando Sentinel, Outside the Beltway, WFTV.com