George Zimmerman, the defendant who was acquitted in the shooting death of African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, in 2012, will not be charged with aggravated assault in connection with a domestic violence incident earlier this month. The alleged victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution and recanted her story, leaving the State’s Attorney’s office no other choice but to drop the charges against Zimmerman.

Police arrested Zimmerman on Jan. 9 after a 28-year-old woman reported he had thrown her cell phone and a wine bottle at her when she was at his home. Brittany Brunelle told police she and her 5-year-old son had lived with Zimmerman for several months, saying that although they were not romantically involved, they had sexual relations “one drunken night.” Brunelle moved out, but had gone back at Zimmerman’s request to return a painting.

Neither party placed a 911 call asking for an emergency response at the home. The arrest took place after officers stopped a car driven by Brunelle in Lake Mary, Florida at which time Brunelle told officers that Zimmerman had become angry because of her decision to move out and had thrown the cell phone and wine bottle at her.

Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer in his gated community when he became involved in an confrontation with 16-year-old, Trayvon Martin, that resulted in the teenager’s death. Eyewitness accounts differed and Zimmerman, who was injured in the struggle, invoked the state’s “stand your ground” law and was not charged. The law, which is on the books in some form in 23 states, allows an individual to exercise whatever force is needed as self-protection if they reasonably believe they are in “imminent and immediate threat of serious bodily harm or death” without first retreating to avoid confrontation.

State’s attorney, Phil Archer, made the announcement about the decision to drop charges against Zimmerman after Brunelle refused to cooperate with police, failed to respond to a subpoena from the prosecutor’s office, and then provided a written statement recanting the accusation.

Zimmerman has been involved in disputes with two women since he was acquitted in the Treyvon Martin case in July 2013. He was seen on video threatening his ex-wife with a handgun and two months later a girlfriend reported that he had held a shotgun to her head. Both women declined to press charges.