Zimmerman Prosecution Rests as Mothers of Victim and Defendant Testify
Friday, July 5, 2013
By: Nicole Creston

July 5, 2013 | WMFE - The prosecution rested its case Friday in George Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial. The jury heard from the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was seventeen when Zimmerman fatally shot him last year...and by the end of the day, Zimmerman's mother had also been called to the stand.

[Image: George Zimmerman's mother Gladys Zimmerman listens to a recording of a 911 call as she sits on the witness stand. The call was made during the confrontation between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, and screams for help can be heard in the background. Photo courtesy of Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel/Pool]

Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton took the stand as prosecutors played for her a 911 call made by a neighbor during the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin. 

She said the voice screaming for help in the background was her son’s. 

On cross examination, defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked Fulton if, as a mother, she only believed the screams were Martin's because to think otherwise would mean acknowledging her son had some responsibility for his own death.

“You certainly had to hope that was your son screaming, even before you heard it, correct?” O’Mara asked Fulton. 

“I didn't hope for anything. I just simply listened to the tape,” Fulton replied. 

The prosecution argues Zimmerman profiled, followed and murdered the unarmed teen. 

After state attorneys rested, however, the defense called its first witness – George Zimmerman's mother, Gladys. 

“Do you know whose voice that was screaming in the background?” O’Mara asked her. When she replied in the affirmative, he asked, “And whose voice was that?” 

“My son George,” said Gladys Zimmerman. 

The trial resumes Monday, when the defense is expected to call other members of Zimmerman’s family to the stand. They will likely also testify it is the former neighborhood watch volunteer’s voice on the tape. 

Zimmerman is pleading not guilty. He says he shot Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him.