Councilwoman Reacts to Zimmerman Arrest

As dozens of Red Bank teenagers dressed in hooded sweatshirts stood quietly on the corner in a small park, Councilwoman Sharon Lee told them to reclaim Trayvon Martin's stolen future. The Florida teen had been shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman more than a month earlier and even as the case drew increasing attention and spawned protests throughout the country it seemed as though justice so many sought might never be served.

So, Lee told students during a rally earlier this month to seek their own personal justice. To wake up each day, pursue an education and live the life that Martin had lost.

On Wednesday, George Zimmerman, the man who shot Martin, was arrested and charged with second degree murder, according to CBS News. 

Later that night following the borough's regular meeting, Lee approached the news with the same pragmatism she displayed when addressing the borough's teens a week before. Avoiding the emotion and anger that has grown over the course of the last month, now, she said, it's time for the system to do its job.

"I think it's the time for the legal system to work its course," she said. "Everybody deserves due process and that's what needs to happen."

Zimmerman, 28, shot Martin as the teen was walking back to his father's home from a nearby convenience store at the end of February. Zimmerman, who had made dozens of calls to police since the start of the year for seemingly everything, even a window left open, again called authorities to report a suspicious person walking around the neighborhood. Despite orders from a 911 dispatcher not to follow the 17 year old, Zimmerman exited his vehicle, followed Martin and eventually confronted him. A scuffle broke out and Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest, killing him.

After police initially cleared Zimmerman based on Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, news of the incident spread, igniting protests and marches throughout the country. In Red Bank, as many as for a .

Though Lee said she was upset with the delays that hindered the investigation, she's satisfied that the process has finally reached the judicial stage. More so than justice for Martin, Lee said she hopes the case will draw attention to the Stand Your Ground law and the loose guns laws many feel emboldened Zimmerman to follow a teenager he might not have otherwise.

"All of our children need to be safe," she said.