Trayvon Martin “suffered” for up to ten minutes after he was shot on February 26, 2012, coroner Dr. Shiping Bao testified today to an immediate defense objection.
Dr. Bao said Trayvon Martin lived for between one and 10 minutes after he was shot by George Zimmerman, surmising he was in “pain” and “suffered” for the duration between when he was struck by a single bullet and when he died.
The findings of Bao seem to contraindicate the account of shooter George Zimmerman, who had previously claimed Martin moved around, spoke, and even seemingly acknowledged the fatal wound that night.
Back in August, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Zimmerman said:
“I didn’t think I hit him because he sat up and said, ‘OK, you got me. You got it. You got me. You got it,’ something like that.”
Dr. William L. Manion, a New Jersey forensics experts, told the paper that Trayvon Martin “certainly would have experienced pain” from the wound he sustained, and Florida expert Dr. William Anderson said at the time:
“You’re talking about minutes, at least, for him to survive … I think he would have been conscious … for a little time, anyway.”
Today on the stand, Bao discussed the manner in which Martin died of his single wound to the heart, saying that death would result from the irreparable tear sustained in the shooting:
His heart was still beating. Every time his heart was beating, some of the blood would go from right ventricle to the pulmonary artery to the lung and supply his brain … I believe — it is my opinion — that he was still alive, he was still in pain, he was still in suffering.
Bao had originally opined that Trayvon Martin lived for one to three minutes after he was shot, but has since amended his opinion to say he survived for up to ten minutes.
