George Zimmerman Fears for Life in Jail
George Zimmerman is afraid he could be harmed behind bars for killing Trayvon Martin following an increase in "hostility" aimed at him by his fellow inmates, according to his attorney.
"There has been an upwelling of hostility and animosity towards him that can find its way to you in many different ways. So he's concerned because he's exposed to many people he doesn't even know," Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, said outside of a courthouse on Monday.
The 28-year-old remains in custody at Florida's Seminole County jail after being charged with 2nd degree murder in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin and O'Mara suggested that his client was not doing well.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Understand that George fully well realizes that he was involved in some way in the death of another young man," O'Mara told ABC News.
"He does not take the result of that altercation lightly at all. That weighed on him, I would imagine, more than the isolation, more than the last six weeks, more probably than the threat of what is to come in the system," he added.
Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, shot and killed Martin in a gated community within Sanford, Fla., on February 26 and reportedly "wept quite a bit" during his first night behind bars, according to ABC.
O'Mara filed a motion to have the case appointed Judge Jessica Recksiedler removed due to a possible conflict of interest on Monday, and the lawyer will also seek a bond release for Zimmerman to ensure his well being.
"I hope to have him released on bond and by that time have a safe place for him," O'Mara said.
Zimmerman's new defense attorney attempted to explain his client's emotional state after special prosecutor, Angela Corey, filed charges on Wednesday.
"[Zimmerman] has been in hiding for weeks and weeks and weeks without any true support, family, friends- without being able to walk down the street. So I think just being in that situation for weeks on end has had its effect on him, I think he's dealing with it OK," O'Mara told CBS News.
"Being charged with any crime like this is of course very stressful, he's frustrated, he's tired, he's stressed. So we just need to take it one day at a time," he added.
