Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, testified Friday in court that the voice she heard screaming on a 911 call recorded the night he was shot belonged to her son.
During questioning by the prosecution, Fulton listened to a 911 call by a neighbor on the night of the shooting in which a person can be heard screaming. When asked who those screams belonged to, Fulton said: “Trayvon Benjamin Martin.”
Ms. Fulton added that “absolutely” there was no doubt in her mind that it was her son’s voice during cross-examination by Mark O’Mara, the defense attorney for George Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, 29, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in Sanford, Fla., on February 26, 2012, in self-defense.
O’Mara asked Fulton if she had “hoped” it was her son’s voice on the call when she first heard it. Fulton said “I didn’t hope for anything. I just simply listened to the tape.”
“You certainly hope that your son Trayvon Martin would not have done anything that would have led to his own death, correct?” O’Mara asked later.
“What I hope for was that this would have never happened and that he would still be here,” she responded.
Trayvon Martin’s brother Jahvaris Fulton, also took the stand Friday, and said he too believes the voice screaming on that call belonged to his brother.
The younger Fulton admitted under cross-examination that he was not initially “100% positive” that it was his brother’s voice. In an interview with a local CBS reporter in March 2012, Jahvaris Fulton had said “I’m not sure” when asked whose voice he heard on the 911 call placed by a neighbor.
“I really haven’t even listened to them that good,” he said at the time. “Like, I’ve heard it but, I mean, I would think that it’s my brother but I’m not completely positive that that’s him.”
Testifying Friday he said that his original uncertainty was “clouded by shock and denial and sadness.”
FBI audio engineer Hirotaka Nakasone testified earlier this week that it was impossible for analysts to determine who was screaming on the call, but someone who is familiar with the person’s voice might be able to identify the speaker. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Don West, Nakasone also said the risk of listener bias increases if people trying to identify a voice are listening to a sample in a group, rather than individually.
While Martin’s mother and brother testified that they believe the voice belongs to him, Zimmerman’s father has said repeatedly he believes it was his son, including once last April in an interview with Sean Hannity.
The defense lawyers haven’t said yet whether the elder Zimmerman will testify, but his name was included on a list of potential witnesses.
msnbc Producer Stefanie Cargill contributed to this report.
Note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.
Morgan Whitaker