Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, took the stand this morning in a Seminole County courtroom to testify in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman, speaking in part to the disputed voice on tape screaming for help in the moments before Martin was killed on a Sanford, Florida street.
Trayvon Martin is believed by many to have been the individual begging for help before the fatal single shot to the heart that killed the teen, but one voice expert said that scientifically, it is not possible to say for sure who was screaming. Zimmerman has since claimed he, not Martin, called for help before Martin was killed.
At one point during this morning’s testimony, defense attorney Mark O’Mara asked Sybrina Fulton if she hoped the terrified scream heard on the recording was that of her son, so as to confirm George Zimmerman as the sole aggressor in the scenario.
Fulton replied:
“I heard my son screaming … I didn’t hope for anything. I simply listened to the tape.”
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda asked Fulton if she was able to identify the scream on the tape, to which she said :
Yes, it’s Trayvon Benjamin Martin.
Before taking the stand, Fulton tweeted:
“I pray that God gives me strength to properly represent my Angel Trayvon. He may not be perfect but he’s mine. I plead the blood of Jesus for healing.”
Jahvaris Fulton, brother of Trayvon Martin , also took the stand to speak to whose voice was heard pleading on the tape at issue in court.
The younger Fulton admitted he was “in denial” when he initially heard the tape played:
“When we heard it in the mayor’s office I didn’t want to believe it was him. It was clouded by shock and denial and sadness. I didn’t want to believe it was him.”
Trayvon Martin’s brother also definitively identified the voice on the tape as the slain teen, saying he’d “heard him yell” in the past, but “not like that.”