In the increasingly unstitched world of George Zimmerman, who, though recently acquitted of second-degree murder of teenager Trayvon Martin, still lives in fear for his life from would-be vigilantes, and has his every move scrutinized by the public eye, has the latest misery in the news that his wife Shellie Zimmerman has filed for divorce. Her attorney said the decision was motivated by “disappointment.”
The public first knew trouble was brewing when an interview on “Good Morning America,” suggested she felt ambivalent. When asked if she and Zimmerman were still together, she said, “I’m not going to answer that,” and though she said she “wants to have children and stay married,” when the interviewer asked “with George?” she said “That’s something I’m going to have to think about.”
Apparently she thought about it and perhaps decided having children might be difficult, under the circumstances.
“We have pretty much lived like gypsies for the past year and a half. We’ve lived in a 20-foot trailer in the woods, scared every night that someone would go and find us and that it would be horrific.”
She is referring to the public outrage over the killing of Trayvon Martin, which some think was either motivated by racial hatred, or at least exhibiting an insensitivity to racial differences. Some have made death threats.
The choice to divorce comes two months after George’s acquittal, and a week after she herself pleaded guilty to perjury in his case. She had claimed during a bail hearing that they should have lower bail because she was a full-time student and her husband wasn’t working, but in fact the couple had raised $135,000 in donations from a website to fund George’s defense.
“I can rationalize a lot of reasons for why I was misleading, but the truth is that I knew I was lying,” she said.
She was sentenced to a year’s probation and 100 hours of community service.