Trayvon Martin's Parents: Shooting Not God's Plan

Parents of slain teen speak out following George Zimmerman interview

The parents of Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin say they have no desire to meet with the man who shot their son and rejected his claim that the shooting was part of God's Plan.

Parents Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin appeared on NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning, hours after George Zimmerman told Fox's Sean Hannity the Martin shooting was "all God's plan."

"I really think that's ridiculous, I wish Trayvon was here to tell his side of the story and I don't believe that's God's plan for him to kill an innocent teenager," Fulton said.

Fulton and Martin said they watched the full interview, which aired Wednesday night and was the first the neighborhood watch volunteer has given since the Feb 26 shooting in a gated community in Sanford.

Zimmerman, 28, who is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Martin, 17, said that he had never heard of Florida's Stand Your Ground law before the incident. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

Zimmerman said that Martin's demeanor and body language were confrontational on the night of their encounter at The Retreat at Twin Lakes. Martin was on his way back from a 7-Eleven. Zimmerman said he was headed out to Target.

He also claimed that when Martin approached him, the teen used an expletive.

"Trayvon is a child, he's a 17-year-old child and I can't imagine him saying something like that," Fulton said. "He was frightened for his life."

After they started fighting, Zimmerman said, "At that point, I realized that it wasn’t my gun, it wasn’t his gun, it was the gun."

"Those are the words of George Zimmerman, George Zimmerman said they were fighting over the gun, there are no witnesses that say that they were fighting over the gun," Tracy Martin said. "George Zimmerman is here to tell his story. Trayvon is dead."

Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said the interview could help prosecutors.

"There are so many inconsistencies in the things that George Zimmerman is saying, the state attorney is going to look at that interview that he did last night as a gift when they cross-examine him," Crump said.

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While Zimmerman had said there was nothing he would have done differently, he later clarified his statement.

"I do wish that there was something, anything, I could have done that wouldn’t have put me in the position where I had to take his life," he said.

He also issued an apology to Martin's parents and said he'd like to talk with them about what happened.

"Absolutely not," Fulton said, when asked if she was open to meeting with Zimmerman.

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