ORLANDO – At the age of 49, Orlando man Junior Alexander Guy finally bought his first cellphone. Within days he wished he hadn't.
At all hours of the day and night, the phone would ring and callers would insult and threaten him.
He quickly worked out that the number he had been given by T-Mobile previously belonged to Trayvon Martin murder accused George Zimmerman, The Orlando Sentinel reported, and was the number Zimmerman gave to 911 dispatchers the night of his fatal clash with Martin.
When his 911 call was released, his phone number -- 407-435-2400 -- became widely known. Zimmerman got rid of the number and it was reissued to Guy.
"At two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning I kept getting these [calls]," Guy said.
In all, he got about 70 threatening calls between May 7, when he bought the phone, and May 16, when he gave it to a lawyer -- who is petitioning T-Mobile to pay damages to Guy.
T-Mobile refused, saying it gave Guy a new number and provided an account credit.
It also made the sensible decision to retire the number to prevent another innocent party ending up on the receiving end of death threats.
Zimmerman, 28, was charged with second-degree murder in April after he shot and killed the unarmed Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26.
He claims the shooting was in self-defense and has pleaded not guilty.
The six-week interval between Martin's death and Zimmerman's arrest sparked nationwide protests, with many claiming the shooting was racially motivated.
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