Trayvon Martin's Mom: “We Will Define His Legacy”

She supports an investigation into whether her son's killer could be charged under federal civil rights laws.

The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin issued a call to arms on Friday to join her in helping to prevent her son's tragedy from repeating itself.

"Please use my story, please use my tragedy, please use my broken heart to say to yourself 'We cannot let this happen to anybody else's child,'" Sybrina Fulton said.

Speaking from the National Urban League Conference in Philadelphia, a visibly emotional Fulton pleaded with the audience to help her remember her son's legacy through The Trayvon Martin Foundation.

"The verdict is not going to define who Trayvon Martin was. We will define his legacy. We will define who he is and what he was all about," she said.

Fulton supports an investigation into whether her son's killer could be charged under federal civil rights laws.

The verdict in the George Zimmerman trial sparked mixed reactions around the world after a jury of six women acquitted the former neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager.

On Thursday, the second juror to speak publicly about the trial said in a national television interview that she feels Zimmerman got away with murder for fatally shooting Martin. Juror B29 said there wasn't enough evidence to convict him under Florida law.

“I was the juror that was going to give them a hung jury,” she said. “I fought to the end. George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from God,” she said. “And at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with,” she said.

Fulton says she was devastated after watching the interview.

"It is devastating for my family to hear the comments from juror B29, comments which we already knew in our hearts to be true. That George Zimmerman literally got away with murder. This new information challenges our nation once again to do everything we can to make sure that this never happens to another child. That's why Tracy and I have launched The Trayvon Martin Foundation to try and take something very painful and negative and turn it into something positive as a legacy to our son," Fulton said in a statement.

There was speculation that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder might talk about the case during his speech Thursday at the conference. He didn't. Holder stuck to the topic of voting rights. He announced that the Justice Department will ask a federal court in Texas to require that the state ask for pre-approval before making changes to its voting laws.

The four-day event kicked off Wednesday. About 6,000 participants were expected to attend.

The Urban League is one of the nation's oldest civil rights organizations.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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