A 16-year-old girl said she was on the phone with the Florida teen shot by a neighborhod watch volunteer moments before he was killed, and that he feared he was being stalked.
Trayvon Martin tried to shake the man following him just minutes before the fatal confrontation that left the unarmed high schooler dead, the unidentified femalesaid, according to ABC News.
The 16-year-old told Martin’s family attorney she was on the phone with Martin on the night of Feb. 26, ABC News reported, and they talked just moments before he was shot to death by George Zimmerman.
FEDS PROBE SHOOTING AMID NATIONAL OUTCRY
The pair’s phone logs, obtained by ABC News, show they spoke just five minutes before police responded to reports of a shooting at the gated community in Sanford, Fla.
Recounting her conversation with Martin, the teen girl said, “He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man.”
“I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run,” she said.
After a few minutes, the girl said, Martin thought he was safe. But eventually the man appeared again.
“Trayvon said, ‘What are you following me for?'” the girl said. “And the man said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the [phone’s\\] headset just fell.”
The line went dead, the girl said.
“I called him again and he didn’t answer the phone,” she said.
Martin’s parents, Tracey Martin and Sybrina Fulton, told ABC News that the logs and the girl’s story showed their son wasn’t looking for trouble.
The 17-year-old high school junior had been watching the NBA All-Star game at his father’s house and stepped out to buy a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea when he was killed.
“He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him,” Tracey Martin told ABC News.
“That’s the most disturbing part,” he said. “He thought he had got away from the guy and the guy back-tracked for him.”
Zimmerman admitted shooting Martin but maintains he did it in self-defense after the teen came after him.
The case has attracted national attention, and rallies and protests were held across Seminole County on Monday calling for Zimmerman’s arrest.
On Tuesday, State Attorney Norm Wolfinger said a Seminole County grand jury would investigate the case.
The Justice Department announced it would open an investigation on Monday.
Legal experts say Zimmerman could benefit from Florida’s liberal self-defense laws, which allow someone who feels threatened to “stand his or her ground” and use deadly force without backing down.
