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Trayvon Martin is dead because George Zimmerman “tracked” and then shot Trayvon Martin instead of waiting for police to arrive, prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda told the jury at Zimmerman’s murder trial.

De la Rionda, presenting the prosecution’s closing argument, accused Zimmerman of taking the law into his own hands during their February 2012 confrontation.

The defense team, scheduled to close Friday, has maintained that Trayvon, 17, was the aggressor and that Zimmerman, 29, shot him in self-defense.

Using a projector, de la Rionda showed jurors a photo of Zimmerman taken at the police station the night of the shooting — alongside a close up of Trayvon’s dead body.

De la Rionda noted that Trayvon’s hands had no blood on them, said his hoodie string may have been pulled down by Zimmerman in a struggle.

“His (Trayvon’s) body speaks to you,” de la Rionda said. “It proves to you that this defendant is lying about what happened.”

De la Rionda focused on his theory that Trayvon was an innocent teen who was wrongly profiled and murdered by Zimmerman. De la Rionda told jury the key word in the prosecution case was “assumptions.”

“He automatically assumed that Trayvon Martin was a criminal and that is why we are here,” de la Rionda said of Zimmerman. Later he said Trayvon was not trespassing in the gated community, but rather was being a normal teen making a trip to the store.

De la Rionda also painted Zimmerman as someone who already knew he could ultimately win any confrontation with Trayvon.

“He’s got a gun, he’s got the equalizer,” de la Rionda said. He asked the six-woman jury to use “your God-given common sense” and find the former neighborhood watch volunteer guilty of second-degree murder.

Earlier, Judge Debra Nelson agreed to add manslaughter to the second-degree murder charge Zimmerman already faced, but rejected a prosecution request that a third-degree murder count also be added.

Zimmerman’s attorneys had objected to adding any lesser charges.

The last-minute effort to add charges was seen by some legal experts as an indication that prosecutors were not confident about their chances for a second-degree murder conviction. Zimmerman has been portrayed by prosecutors as a wanna-be cop.

“They aren’t going to go all or nothing,” said Jose Baez, a Florida criminal defense attorney, of state prosecutors. “They aren’t blind to the fact that they haven’t proven second-degree murder.” Baez successfully defended Casey Anthony, a Florida mother accused of killing her daughter in a high-profile capital murder case.

Second-degree murder in Florida carries a possible life sentence. If convicted of manslaughter, Zimmerman could get up to 30 years.

Elizabeth Parker, a Florida criminal defense attorney who has been monitoring the case, said the third-degree murder count could bring a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors also had considered but then decided against trying to add the charge of aggravated assault, which would carry no more than a five-year prison term.

The third-degree murder charge request drew a heated argument. Third-degree murder can involve death that results from committing a felony, even if the accused did not mean to kill the victim.

Assistant State Attorney Richard Mantei, arguing for the count, said Zimmerman committed “child abuse” — a felony — on Trayvon.

Don West argued against their claim, saying child abuse had never been mentioned during the trial. He called the attempt to add the third-degree murder charge a “trick by the state.”

Zimmerman’s attorneys get three hours for their closing Friday. The state will then get one hour to present rebuttal statements.

The jury could begin deliberations Friday.

Source: USAToday