Trayvon Martin remembered on 10th anniversary of his death

Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager who was shot dead by George Zimmerman in 2012, was remembered by his family on the 10th anniversary of his death. File Photo UPI Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) kisses Tracy Martin as she consoles him and Sybrina Fulton, parents of teenager Trayvon Martin, at a Democratic forum called by the House Judiciary Committee in March 2012. File Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI George Zimmerman arrives at the Seminole County Jail to turn himself after his bond was revoked in June 2012. File Photo by Joshua C. Cruey/UPI George Zimmerman smiles during a recess on the sixth day of jury selection in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Florida in June 2013 while facing murder charges for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. File Photo by Joe Burbank/UPI Demonstrators angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin, block a Metro train to protest the acquittal, in Los Angeles in July 2013. Zimmerman's acquittal sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Trayvon Martin was remembered at an event in New York City on Saturday, the 10th anniversary of his death in Florida.

Trayvon, a Black teenager, was visiting his family members in a gated community in Sanford in 2012 when he was fatally shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.

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Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter charges in 2013 and protests of his acquittal led to the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon's mother, and her family held an event at National Action Network's House of Justice in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City on Saturday which was attended by Rev. Al Sharpton and Mayor Eric Adams, Gothamist reported.

"Of course today is a bittersweet day," Fulton said during the event. "A lot of people talk about Trayvon Martin's story -- it's not a story for me, it's a tragedy. Because a story has a beginning and an ending. There is no ending for what I carry in my heart."

Fulton was praised by Adams on Saturday for starting the Trayvon Martin Foundation which aims to bring awareness to "ending senseless gun violence."

"Today we see the fruits of her harvest in the foundation that she has established and continued to pursue," Adams said.

Fulton's work has had a national impact on the definition of the term "stand your ground," a reference to the controversial law Zimmerman had used as his defense, Adams said. The law, the first of its kind when it was created in 2005, has since expanded in Florida and spread to at least 23 states.

"Trayvon was shot and killed because of who he looked like," Adams said, before denouncing hate crimes against members of Asian, transgender and Muslim communities.

"If we stand our ground for Trayvon, we're standing our ground for every group in the city. You cannot be treated based on what you look like."The National Action Network donated $10,000 to the Trayvon Martin Foundation during the event, according to NY1.

Trayvon's father Tracy Martin, who was out to dinner with his now-wife when his son was shot dead, recounted the day of his death in comments to WPLG on Saturday.

Martin said that the couple returned from dinner to find Trayvon missing and were surprised when three detectives showed up at their door.

"In his folder, he pulled out he said, 'I'm going to show you a picture and you tell me is this your son?' And so he pulled out the picture and that was the photo of him lying on the ground dead," Martin told WPLG.

"I was in denial. This is my son, and the last conversation we had was that I know in fact, I love him and he loved me and now I am looking at a still photo of his lifeless body on the ground."