ABC News is reporting today on the disturbing account of Florida teen Trayvon Martin's last moments alive. He was on the phone with a 16-year-old girl, who says he talked to her about being followed by a strange man. She also says he thought that he'd escaped and was safe. But according to the timing of 911 calls, that man, George Zimmerman, shot and killed Martin just moments after she got off the line.
From ABC News:
Martin's death Feb. 26 has stirred national outrage and protests, partly prompting the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case.
ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump about the last moments of the teenager's life.
"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "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."
Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.
"Trayvon said, 'What, are you following me for,' and the man said, 'What are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."
The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.
The report adds even another, more personal, layer of tragedy to the story. Not only was Martin unarmed, but the story of this last call suggests that while he was being looked at as "suspicious," he was actually scared, and not posing a threat to Zimmerman, but rather trying to get to safety.
The Congressional Black Caucus wants the case, in which Zimmerman is recorded saying, "These a— holes always get away" in a 911 call, to be treated as a hate crime.
Read more at ABC News.