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Nancy Grace
Interview With Trayvon Martin`s Parents Part 2
Aired July 22, 2013 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE DE LA RIONDA, PROSECUTOR: A teenager is dead. The defendant in this case, George Zimmerman -- he profiled him as a criminal. He was minding his own business, but apparently, this defendant decided that he was up to no good.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ACQUITTED OF MURDER: These (EXPLETIVE DELETED), they always get away.
DE LA RIONDA: One of those (EXPLETIVE DELETED) punks. Why is he uttering that word, other than that`s how he feels?
JOHN GUY, PROSECUTOR: Use your heart.
MARK O`MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Can`t allow sympathy to feed into it.
DE LA RIONDA: He`s a wannabe cop.
O`MARA: I call this case the bizarro case in my practice.
DE LA RIONDA: Defendant claims that he was the only one yelling out there.
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, SR., GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S FATHER: Absolutely, it`s my son George.
GLADYS ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S MOTHER: My son George.
TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN`S FATHER: I was listening to his life being taken, coming to grips that Trayvon was here no more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you recognize that to be, ma`am?
SYBRINA FULTON: Trayvon Benjamin Martin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose voice do you recognize?
JAHVARIS FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN`S BROTHER: My brother.
SYBRINA FULTON: My youngest son is Trayvon Benjamin Martin. He`s in heaven.
MARTIN: I was listening to my son`s last cry for help.
911 OPERATOR: 911. Do you need police, fire or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe both. I`m not sure. There`s just someone screaming outside.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN "AC360": Whose voice do you think it was in the 911 call?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was George Zimmerman.
DE LE RIONDA: If he`s yelling and he`s down, how`s he going to talk? Or is he lying about that?
Look at the gun. Look at the size of this gun. How did the victim see that in the darkness?
Is it just another lie that he tells?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: And I saw him walking back that way and then cut through the back of the houses.
DE LA RIONDA: He was following this innocent young boy.
O`MARA: George Zimmerman is not guilty of anything but protecting his own life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.
COOPER: What would you say to Trayvon Martin`s parents?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`d say I`m terribly sorry for your loss. It`s a tragedy. You know, I didn`t know him, but I felt their pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
A cry in the night, a single gunshot that forever alters American justice, a single gunshot that will be studied from now on in law schools and criminal justice classes across the country, from now on, the shot fired by George Zimmerman, the shot that tore through the heart of high school junior Trayvon Martin.
Bombshell tonight. With us live and taking your calls, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. It`s not just about the trial. It`s not just about legalities. It`s not just about admissibility or inadmissibility of evidence. It`s not the procession of the witnesses. Tonight, it is about a mother and a father whose son is shot to death.
We`re not talking about, is Zimmerman guilty, is he not guilty? Does stand your ground apply, self-defense? No. What they never got to say on the stand -- with me, Trayvon Martin`s family, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin.
Out to you, Ms. Fulton. How did you tell your other son about Trayvon`s death?
SYBRINA FULTON: I called him. He was at school. He`s in college now. I called him and I told him that we had an emergency and that he needed to come home.
After I hung up the phone, I thought about it, that somebody else may call him and tell him the bad news, and I needed to know how he was going to react. I needed to know, you know, what questions he had. And I didn`t want to -- I didn`t want anybody else to do it. I felt that it was my job as a parent to let him know about his brother.
And I called him back and I told him that Trayvon was shot and killed. And I think just like myself, he was in disbelief. And I told him -- he was on his way home, and I told him, Make sure you come straight home. Don`t make any stops.
And he did. And when we got home, we just -- I just hugged him and I just -- I mean, it`s all very emotional. It`s all -- you know, just thinking back on the things that happened, it just all was a very emotional time for us all.
GRACE: Ms. Fulton, how has he been? How is he getting through this?
SYBRINA FULTON: We try to live a normal life, as normal as we can. We just try to, you know, keep ourselves busy. We are going to take a vacation very soon just to get away, just to get away from the news, just to get away from just everything and every, you know, body that recognizes us.
And we just need some time out, so we`re going to take a vacation, a family vacation, and we just are going to just relax and do nothing, not worry about a cell phone, not worry about text messages, not worry about anything.
And that`ll rejuvenate him. That`ll give him time so that he can relax and get his head together because we have been basically going since February 27the, 2012.
GRACE: February 26th, 2012.
SYBRINA FULTON: Well, the reason I say 27the...
GRACE: Has he been...
SYBRINA FULTON: ... is because that`s the day we found out.
GRACE: Yes, you didn`t know. Speaking of, take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O`MARA: ... actually were not as certain that it was your brother`s voice when you first heard it, though, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Correct.
O`MARA: The first time you listened to it was in the mayor`s office in Sanford, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
O`MARA: And your mom was there, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
O`MARA: And other family members and at least two attorneys, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
O`MARA: OK. And during that time, you listened to it along with everybody else, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
O`MARA: And from having listened to it, it was your thought that it might be Trayvon, correct?
JAHVARIS FULTON: When we heard it in the mayor`s office -- how do I explain -- I wasn`t -- I guess I didn`t want to believe that it was him. So that`s why during that interview, I said I wasn`t sure. I guess it was -- listening to it was clouded by shock and denial and sadness. I didn`t really want to believe that it was him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, has he been able to go back to school?
SYBRINA FULTON: He took a semester off, and after some pushing and shoving, he did go back. But he did take a semester off.
So he`s a senior this year. I`m excited about that. I`m planning on doing a big graduation party and probably buy him a new car or something. I got to keep him encouraged, so I`m going to do something big for him for graduation.
GRACE: Oh, I`m glad to hear it! I remember, you know, I dropped out of school. I didn`t think I would ever go back to school. And it changed everything. I`m just wondering how this is going to affect him for the rest of his life.
This is what you saw in court, Ms. Fulton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUY: Do you recognize any voices on that tape?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
GUY: Whose voice do you recognize?
JAHVARIS FULTON: My brother.
GUY: Trayvon`s?
JAHVARIS FULTON: Yes.
GUY: What parts of the recording do you recognize as your brother`s voice?
JAHVARIS FULTON: The yelling and the screaming.
GUY: Had you ever heard Trayvon Martin yell or scream as the two of you were growing up?
JAHVARIS FULTON: I`ve heard him yell, but not like that, but yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of Florida versus George Zimmerman.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: I kept yelling, Help, help, help (INAUDIBLE) And when he was hitting my head against (INAUDIBLE) like my head was going to explode, and I thought I was going to lose consciousness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe both. I`m not sure. There`s just someone screaming outside.
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: Hey, we`ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there`s a real suspicious guy.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: We must stand our ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Verdict, we the jury find George Zimmerman...
RACHEL JEANTEL, FRIEND OF TRAYVON MARTIN: I got a feeling he was going get not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hurt. I was angered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juror B-37, is this your verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: So you think he`s yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.
911 OPERATOR: What is your...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s gunshots!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. With me tonight, a stunning part two with Trayvon Martin`s family, his mother and his father.
Ms. Fulton, Mr. Martin, thank you so much for being with us. I want to go to Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin, how did you manage to summon up the strength to keep going after that funeral? How did you go on?
TRACY MARTIN: It`s hard to go on, but I know that -- I promised Trayvon while he was in the casket that I`ll continue to fight for him as long as I have life in my body. And the strength that I get to go on comes from him, along with continuing to have strong faith in God. That`s the strength that I have. All of the energy that I`m using to get justice for him comes from him.
GRACE: Mr. Martin, you said that you get strength from him. Has he come to you in dreams? Have you felt his presence?
TRACY MARTIN: I feel his presence every day. Me and Trayvon were very close. And I just -- every -- I think I go to sleep thinking about him. I wake up thinking about him. I have actually dreamed about him twice, and both of them were happy dreams. And I know that Trayvon is...
GRACE: What did you dream?
TRACY MARTIN: I actually had...
GRACE: What did he say to you in the dream?
TRACY MARTIN: I can`t recall what the dream was about. I know I remember seeing his face. I don`t know. We were going to get something to eat. He used to love McDonald`s French fries. So we would -- it was something to do with McDonald`s. And those are the times that you miss and the good times that you remember. But that`s what keeps me going.
GRACE: That`s the first thing -- my twins were so premature, they couldn`t chew and keep anything down. The first thing I could get them to really eat is a McDonald`s French fry. And I would tear off each end and break it in half and give them little bitty -- little bitty pieces. And you know, before I had them, I though, Oh, I`m going to give them organic food and all that. I was so happy just to get that French fry in them that I broke down crying that they kept -- ate it and kept it down. So when you say he loved that, I can just imagine you`ll out together.
This is what we saw in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA RIONDA: Mr. Martin, even at this time, is it hard for you to believe that your son is not longer living?
TRACY MARTIN: It`s very difficult to believe that Trayvon is not living.
DE LA RIONDA: OK.
TRACY MARTIN: As I`ve said over and over, that was my best friend in life, and to have him gone is tragic.
DE LA RIONDA: So they played the call then of the cries for help, and then you actually hear a shot, is that correct??
TRACY MARTIN: Correct.
DE LA RIONDA: OK. And am I safe to assume that you still at that time were in denial, in the sense of not wanting to believe that your son was dead?
TRACY MARTIN: Correct.
DE LA RIONDA: OK. And this was an emotional time for you. Would that be fair to say?
TRACY MARTIN: Very emotional.
DE LA RIONDA: And you listened to the recording, and as you stated, described to the jury, you pulled your chair back in disbelief that you were actually listening to voices for help, and also more importantly, also a shot?
TRACY MARTIN: Correct.
DE LA RIONDA: You realized that that was the shot...
TRACY MARTIN: That killed my son, yes.
DE LA RIONDA: Did you really know what to do at that point?
TRACY MARTIN: No. I was -- my world was -- was -- from that point until today, my world has just been turned upside down. After listening -- after listening to the tape for maybe 20 times, like I said, it was -- I knew that it was Trayvon`s voice.
I didn`t direct that towards any family members. As a matter of fact, I think the family members had started leaving out of the room. It was too much for them. They couldn`t take it. And I just decided to sit there and listen to it.
O`MARA: Had you listened to the tape between the time that Officer Serino played it for you on about the 28th of February and about the 16th of March, when you heard it in the mayor`s office?
TRACY MARTIN: No. I listened to it in Detective Serino`s cubicle and then again in the mayor`s office.
O`MARA: And no time in between?
TRACY MARTIN: No.
DE LA RIONDA: Can you describe to the jury what was going through your mind when you were listening to that?
TRACY MARTIN: Basically, what I was listening to, I was listening to my son`s last cry for help. I was listening to his life being taken. And I was coming -- trying to come to grips that Trayvon was here no more. It was -- it was just tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA RIONDA: ... because he`s got a gun. He`s got the equalizer. He`s going to take care of it. He`s a wannabe cop!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) defendant is lying.
DE LA RIONDA: Or is he lying about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lies...
DE LA RIONDA: Or is it just another lie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One lie after another after another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was caught in numerous lies.
DE LA RIONDA: He profiled him as a criminal. It doesn`t allow, quite frankly, even the police to take the law into their own hands. But this defendant didn`t give Trayvon Martin a chance.
But then he followed him, he trapped him because in his mind, in the defendant`s mind, this was a criminal. He automatically assumed that Trayvon Martin was a criminal. This innocent 17-year-old kid was profiled as a criminal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. With us live and taking your calls, the parents of Trayvon Martin. With us, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. Thank you so much for being with us, Ms. Fulton, Mr. Martin.
You know, it`s a funny thing, Ms. Fulton. When you have children -- and I didn`t understand this until I finally had children late in life. It`s like I can feel them before I even know something`s wrong. I know when they wake up at night in the middle of the night. I`ll go in there, and the moment I see one of them sit up in bed with a bad dream, it`s like you feel what they`re feeling because you love them so much.
When you told Trayvon, as he is laying there, that you love him, did you feel his presence? What did you feel him telling you?
FULTON: I absolutely felt his presence. I touched -- I touched his body. I gave him a kiss. I told him that I will love him forever. And the last thing I remember telling him is that I`ll see him again in heaven.
GRACE: Did you kiss him on his face?
FULTON: Yes, I did. I had to.
GRACE: I got to ask you something. At that funeral, when they were taking that coffin away, did you just want to go with it? I mean, how could you stand up? Did you stand up because your other son was watching you and you had to be strong for him?
FULTON: Well, I tried to understand why all of this happened, but there is no understanding for me. I can only rely on the spirit side of me to try to understand what has happened.
I have a favorite Bible verse. It`s Proverbs 3 and 5, and it tells me -- and I say it every day. I tells me to trust in the Lord with all your heart. And I do. It tells me to lean not onto your own understanding.
So I can`t just think what my mind can tolerate, what my mind can conceive. I have to lean on the Lord. It says acknowledge him and he will direct your path. And that`s exactly what I`m doing. I`m trying to...
GRACE: Amen.
FULTON: ... lean not onto my own understanding because I don`t have an understanding as to why my son at 17 years old -- he was 16 years old and 21 days, to be exact -- why my son was taken so soon. So I know there`s a bigger picture.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUY: Trayvon Martin may not have the defendant`s blood on his hands...
O`MARA: George Zimmerman is not guilty of anything but protecting his own life.
GUY: That child had every right to do what he was doing, walking home.
O`MARA: And that is not an unarmed teenager with nothing but Skittles trying to get home.
911 OPERATOR: So you think he`s yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did that child not have the right to defend himself from that strange man?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was somebody who used the availability of dangerous items from his fists to the concrete.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That child had every right to be afraid of a strange man following him, first in his car and then on foot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let him go back and get back to his life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But George Zimmerman will forever have Trayvon Martin`s blood on his.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. For those of you just joining us, with me live and taking your calls, the parents of Trayvon Martin. With me, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, describing what their life has been like since February 27, 2012, the day they learned that their son, a high school junior, wasn`t out with his cousin, wasn`t out with his relative, that he was dead.
Ms. Fulton, Mr. Martin, thank you for being with us. I thought a lot about you and what you were going through during the trial, because I would sit back and watch, and then I would watch the live feed and hear what everybody was saying, and what they were saying about Trayvon. And, you know, I grew up with a brother, and I have a son and a daughter. And it was amazing to me what I thought were small things got blown up to be such big things. And it seemed like everybody forgot that Trayvon was the one that was dead. And I felt that he was attacked wrongfully.
And again, I`m not talking about the verdict, is it right, is it wrong, what the law is -- it just doesn`t seem right to me, Mr. Martin, that somehow the dead boy turns out to be the one everybody is talking about.
As a matter of fact, let me tell you what happened last night, Mr. Martin. I get an e-mail from a viewer that says, hey, you keep defending Trayvon Martin. This is the real Trayvon. And somebody, I don`t know who it was, had sent me a picture of the rapper The Game. He`s about 35 years old, he`s covered in tattoos. And he`s had all kinds of problems with the law. And there was this conception out there about who Trayvon Martin is. He was a boy. He was a high schooler.
MARTIN: I think --
GRACE: What do you make of why was he attacked?
MARTIN: I think that`s the perception of some Americans. They just, no matter how good you are, how bad you are, they`re going to make you out to be whatever they want you to be. I think it shows where we`re at in this day and age, that a kid was killed, shot in the heart, with two collapsed lungs, and he`s put -- he`s put on trial. He`s the one dead. He`s on the ground dead, but we, as Americans, are persecuting him and trying him as if he killed himself. There`s something wrong with that.
GRACE: Please, please don`t say we, because there are a lot of people out there that held him up. You know, because whatever he may have ever done, he is a boy. I pray to god, Ms. Fulton, that when my son, God willing, is a teen and my daughter, that they are not judged on what infractions they may have committed in their youth, in their teen years. That they are not judged by the little things that may have done wrong. And I want to know your reaction to people vilifying or attacking Trayvon.
FULTON: Well, as a mother, we always try to protect our kids. We know our kids. We know when they talk too much, when they don`t talk enough. We know when they are finicky eaters and when they`re not. We know if they love the outdoors or they love the indoors. We kind of know our kids. And I know that Trayvon was not a confrontational person. I lived with him day in and day out, and he was absolutely not a confrontational person.
Was he scared? Of course he was scared. It was dark. He was in a new area, and he was simply trying to make it home.
GRACE: This is the call that you heard in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, do you need fire, police or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe both, I`m not sure. There`s someone screaming outside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s the address that they`re near? OK. And is it a male or female?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like a male.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you don`t know why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t why. I think they`re yelling help, but I don`t know.
Someone quick please, crap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Does he look hurt to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t see him. I don`t want to go out there. I don`t know what`s going on.
They`re sending them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you think he`s yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. What is your --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s gun shots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just heard gun shots?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just one. Jim, get down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Come here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he no longer yelling?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. Jeremy, get in here now. Jeremy, get up here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he right outside?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, pretty much out the back, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he in front of it or behind that address?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s behind my house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Just stay away from the windows.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t hear him yelling anymore. Do you hear anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don`t, because I`m hiding upstairs. There was a gunshot right outside our house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you mentioned a moment ago that you didn`t know what the tape was about, nobody spoke to you to tell you that you would soon be listening to screams from the event that led to your son`s death?
FULTON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor Triplet (ph) never said anything like that to you?
FULTON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nor did any of your other family members?
FULTON: They hadn`t heard the tape at that time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But my question is whether or not anyone told you to prepare yourself for the event, the trauma of having to listen to somebody scream moments before your son was shot?
FULTON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody mentioned that to you?
FULTON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tracy Martin never told you about that?
FULTON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you just needed to listen to it one time, correct?
FULTON: That`s it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of Florida versus George Zimmerman. Verdict, we the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One word to describe George Zimmerman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murderer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lucky.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our hearts as always go out to our victim`s family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family of the dead teenager, Trayvon Martin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have, from the beginning, just prayed for the truth to come out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe that we brought out the truth on behalf of Trayvon Martin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tragedy is the loss of Trayvon Martin`s life in every respect, regardless of what he was doing or immediately what led up to it. It`s a tragic loss of life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trayvon Benjamin Martin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Victim.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prey. p-r-e-y.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To everybody that put their hoodies up and to everybody who said "I am Trayvon," his family expressed their heartfelt gratitude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This event itself also impacts George Zimmerman forever and ever. There`s no winners here. There`s no monsters here. That`s the tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your bond will be released. Your GPS monitor will be cut off. You have no further business with the court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With us live tonight, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, taking your calls.
Ms. Fulton, Mr. Martin, thank you for being with us. What is your message tonight to other mothers and fathers across this country, Ms. Fulton? What do you want them to know from your heart?
FULTON: What I want them to know is a two-part thing. One part is we are fighting for other kids. We cannot fight for Trayvon, just Trayvon. So this is about a bigger picture. This is about other Trayvon Martins. This is about other people in the community. So the conversation now becomes what do we tell our kids? Do we tell them to walk fast? Do we tell them to walk slow? Do we tell them to take a friend with them or do we tell them just to stay in the house? We have no clue what we should tell our kids to prevent them from going to the store and not ever coming home.
GRACE: I just have one question. It`s out of my curiosity. When you think of Trayvon, Ms. Fulton, what will always be your most vivid memory of your son?
FULTON: The most vivid memory and the memory that probably makes me smile, because I do smile, is when I think about his smile. When I think about how playful he was. When I think about how emotional he was. When I think about how he loved to kiss. He loved to kiss us on the cheek. He loved to hug. He just loved to, you know, just be around his family. When I think of those things, I smile.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, do you need police, fire or medical?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe both. I`m not sure. There`s just someone screaming outside.
MARTIN: After listening to the tape for maybe 20 times, it was Trayvon`s voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In fact, his son is yelling for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was his response?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looked away and under his breath as I interpreted it said no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he look hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tracy Martin saying that was not his son`s voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was not his son`s voice screaming for help.
MARTIN: My response was, I didn`t tell them no, that wasn`t Trayvon. I just kind of shook my head and said I can`t tell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So your words were, I can`t tell?
MARTIN: Something to that effect, but I never said, no, that wasn`t my son`s voice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This`s no doubt that he was telling us that that didn`t sound like his son to him.
MARTIN: Basically what I was listening to, I was listening to my son`s last cry for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they`re yelling help but I don`t know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whose voice is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman`s voice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was Georgie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was George.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s George screaming for help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is George Zimmerman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know what`s going on.
They`re sending them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you instruct him to say that the police lied about it being your son`s voice?
MARTIN: I never instructed anyone to say anything. I was listening to his life being taken, coming to grips that Trayvon was here no more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everyone. With us in our Manhattan studios, the parents of Trayvon Martin. Ms. Fulton, Mr. Martin, thank you for being with us.
You said that you wanted to keep pictures of him smiling, pictures of him in life. Was it because you said that the death brought up so many ugly images, you mean are you referring to a thought of him with a bullet wound in his chest? You did not want to think about that?
FULTON: I did not want to think about that. I did not want to think about him laying lifeless on the ground, on the table, on anything. I just did not want to think of him in that manner. So I made sure that I kept up positive pictures around the house of him doing happy times, when we were on vacations, when we were -- when he was playing sports, when, you know, just him with the family. I wanted to make sure I remembered those times and not focus so much on the negative, which was his death.
GRACE: And on that point, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s kind of like their little animation. The cartoon that they put up. Everything they want you to think in this case starts from the T, just like their little animation. Starts from the T. Don`t do that. That`s not fair. That`s not fair. It would be like reading the end of a book, the last chapter only. And you`d be asking yourself, why are we here? How did we get here? Who are these people? You can`t do that in real life and you shouldn`t do it here.
Let me suggest to you, you start at the beginning. Let`s start at the 7-Eleven, where that child had every right to be where he was. That child had every right to do what he was doing, walking home. That child had every right to be afraid of a strange man following him, first in his car, and then on foot. And did that child not have the right to defend himself from that strange man? Did Trayvon Martin not also have that right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: We remember American hero, Marine Corporal Justin Cain, 22. Menatowak (ph), Wisconsin. Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal. Parents Jim and Judy. Sisters Jolene and Jeane. Justin Cain, American hero.
And now, back to Trayvon Martin`s parents. Sybrina and Tracy.
Mr. Martin, what do you say to Trayvon? What are your last thoughts at night before you go to bed?
MARTIN: Sleep in peace, job well done.
GRACE: Ms. Fulton and Mr. Martin, I just wanted to hear what was in your heart and your mind. We have talked about the trial and the law and stand your ground and self-defense until sometimes I just thought I was going to be sick of it, because somehow in the mix, we lost sight of a dead child.
I know you think that it`s over. But it`s not over. The world, the country is still watching you. And frankly, trying to learn from you. So as you take off back home, I want to thank you and pray that God goes with you.
FULTON: Thank you.
MARTIN: Thank you. God bless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of Florida versus George Zimmerman.
ZIMMERMAN: I kept yelling help, help, help as long as I could. He was hitting my head against (inaudible), I felt like my head was going to explode. I thought I was going to lose consciousness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe both, I`m not sure. There`s someone screaming outside.
ZIMMERMAN: We had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there`s a real suspicious guy.
HOLDER: We must stand our ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The verdict, we the jury find George Zimmerman - -
JEANTEL: I had a feeling it was going to be not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was hurt, I was angered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Juror B-37, is this your verdict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he`s yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s gunshots.
JEANTEL: The jury, they see their fact. No offense to the jury, they old. That`s old school people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The verdict, we the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we`re asking the Justice Department now to do is to look at the race issue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think it`s really racial. I think it`s just everyday life.
JEANTEL: It was racial. Let`s be honest. Racial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can`t testify as to who threw the first punch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In fact, you can`t really testify whether there was a first punch thrown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s correct.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you could hear the gunshot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You realized that that was the shot.
MARTIN: They killed my son, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To know that he was hearing the sound that ended his son`s life, it was tough to watch.
MARTIN: My world has just been turned upside down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could see him wiping tears from his eyes. I could feel how he must feel. Because I have children. And I was choked up by it. I felt horrible for him.
MARTIN: That was my best friend in life. And to have him gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Another chapter in American justice closed. Thank you for being with us. Good night, friend.
END
