[FortWorthPatriot]

I've heard a lot of talk on local radio stations around here about how this all could have been avoided had Zimmerman "just stayed in his truck." That might be true, but he did not and unfortunately the events unfolded as they did. Although Zimmerman did get out of his truck, he would have gotten back to it safely after his call to 911 had ended and Martin would still be alive today had Martin not made three bad decisions.

According to his "girlfriend," Martin had ran from where Zimmerman had spotted him, down between two rows of homes down a sidewalk that ran between the backyards towards his father’s house which was at the far end of the row, about 100 hundred yards away from where Zimmerman ends up after leaving his truck:

GIRLFRIEND: I said, ‘Keep running.’ He said he ain’t gonna run. ‘Cause he said he is right by his father’s house. And then in a couple minutes he said the man is following him again. He’s behind him. I said, ‘Run!’ He said he was not going to run. I knew he was not going to run because he was out of breath. And then he was getting excited, the guy’s getting close to him. I told him, ‘Run!’ And I told him, ‘Keep running!’ He not going to run. I tell him, ‘Why are you not running?’ He said ’I’m not gonna.’ He was tired. I know he was tired.

His girlfriend testifies that Martin had told her over the phone that he is at his father’s house. So safety is within reach - Zimmerman is nowhere near Martin’s location. Martin is more than a hundred yards from Zimmerman now and in no immediate danger. He could have simply walked inside and that would have been the end of it all right then and there. Zimmerman would have later given the police his report, they would have looked around and probably not found anything.

But Martin made the conscious decision to go back the entire 300 feet that he just ran, away from the safety of his father’s house, apparently just so he could confront Zimmerman. Martin made the decision to return to the location from which he had previously ran.

So while Zimmerman is walking back to his truck and talking to the dispatcher, Martin is returning back up between the rows of homes he had just ran down, back to where Zimmerman is still. Zimmerman has no idea that Martin had reached his father’s house nor is now unaware that Martin is moving towards his direction.

I would imagine that in Zimmerman's mind, he is probably thinking that the kid probably ran out the back gate (which was the direction in which Martin was running) and is now long gone. To him, it's now a problem for the police.

After Zimmerman hangs up after his call to 911, he states that Martin then comes out of the shadows and confronts him.

Zimmerman had screamed for help during the struggle but no one came to help him (although they did call 911). Zimmerman feared for his life because he was afraid that Martin was going to kill him so he was left with no other alternative but to fire the fatal round.

Perhaps Zimmerman should have stayed in his truck. That’s a fair statement. Maybe he should have. However, for me the following questions are more pertinent to the case:

• Why didn’t Martin simply go inside when he had clearly reached the safety of his father’s house?

• Why did Martin deliberately (he certainly wasn’t forced) return roughly a football field’s length back to where Zimmerman was especially if Martin was unsure as to Zimmerman’s intent?

• Why did Martin then decide to confront Zimmerman? He could have simply stayed in the shadows and let Zimmerman walk on back to his truck in peace. Then Martin could have slipped right back down to his father's house and gone inside.

If Zimmerman made a knuckleheaded decision to leave his truck to follow Martin which ultimately lead up to the deadly confrontation, Martin made three equally knuckleheaded decisions as well to (a) not enter the potential safety of his father’s house, (b) go back to where Zimmerman was located, and (c) confront Zimmerman.

Sharpton made the comment that Martin had the “civil right” to go home. Well, Martin did go home. All he had to do was open the door and walk inside. Had he simply gone into his father’s house, Martin would probably still be alive today. In my opinion, Martin is 100% responsible for his own death.

Too bad the left won't ask these questions...

[Sopater]

I've heard a lot of talk on local radio stations around here about how this all could have been avoided had Zimmerman "just stayed in his truck."

It's the old "blame the victim because they shouldn't have gotten involved". As the elected neighborhood watch person for the community, I believe that Zimmerman felt that he had a civic duty to his community to get involved.

If the dispatcher on the phone with Zimmerman hadn't asked him which way he went, he probably wouldn't have gotten out of his car... If someone else had answered the non-emergency phone that night... If TM had taken a different route so that GZ could still see him... the list is endless as to how many different ways this thing could have gone to come out with different results.

Who's to say that TM wouldn't have gone back and pulled him from his vehicle either? You play the cards you're delt and don't bother thinking about what "could have been"... it's not useful.