Trayvon Martin’s Mom: ‘I Heard My Son Screaming’

Prosecutors played a 911 tape that captured sounds from the last moments of the Florida teenager's life

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Orlando Sentinel, Gary W. Green, Pool / AP

Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, takes the stand during George Zimmerman's trial in Seminole County circuit court.

In one of the most emotional moments of the George Zimmerman murder trial to date, Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton took the stand on Friday morning,

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Appearing nervous but composed, Fulton gave prosecutors short, pointed answers. When assistant state attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked Fulton to identify her son, she replied: “My youngest son is Trayvon Benjamin Martin. He’s in heaven.”

After describing tattoos on her son’s body, Fulton listened to a 911 call that provided an audio recording of the last moments of her son’s life. When asked to identify the screams heard on the tape, she said the voice was her son Trayvon’s. “Who do you recognize that to be, ma’am?” De la Rionda asked. “Trayvon Benjamin Martin,” she said, her voice slightly quivering.

Identifying who was crying for help on the tape is critical in order to determine who initiated the deadly encounter. Prosecutors are trying to prove the voice is Martin’s, while the defense insists the voice is Zimmerman’s. Judge Debra S. Nelson ruled before the start of the trial that audio experts who think the voice was Martin’s voice would not be allowed to testify. Defense attorneys successfully argued that there was not enough clear audio to make that determination.

On cross-examination, defense attorneys raised the possibility that the voice might not have been Martin’s. When asked to consider that possibility, Fulton replied:  “I heard my son screaming.”

O’Mara countered, “You certainly hoped that your son would not have done anything that led to his own death.”

Fulton replied, “What I hoped for was that this never happened and that he would still be here.”

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