Trayvon Martin’s mother will be a featured witness at a Senate hearing on “stand your ground” laws next week.

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin made the announcement Thursday afternoon. The Illinois Democrat will preside over the hearing as chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. He announced plans for the hearing back in July.

Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton is scheduled to testify along with Lucia McBath. Her son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed last year in the parking lot of a gas station in Jacksonville, Fla.

Michael David Dunn has been charged with murder in that case. He pleaded not guilty; the trial has been delayed until 2014, according to local media reports. The case has parallels to the circumstances surrounding the death of Martin, in which George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder. Zimmerman and his legal team successfully argued that the shooting of Martin was a case of self-defense.

According to Durbin’s office other witnesses scheduled for the Sept. 17 Senate hearing are:

William Meggs, State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit, Tallahassee, Fla.

Ronald Sullivan, Clinical Professor of Law, Director of the Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School

John Lott, President, Crime Prevention Research Center

Ilya Shapiro, Senior Fellow, CATO Institute