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ABC News: Photo Shows George Zimmerman Had Bloodied Head

A photograph, ABC News says shows blood on George Zimmerman's head.
ABC News
A photograph, ABC News says shows blood on George Zimmerman's head.

A photograph published by ABC News this morning shows what the network says is the head of George Zimmerman covered in blood. ABC News says the picture was taken minutes after Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin to death.

The 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting, but he has maintained that he shot Martin, who was unarmed and on his way back from buying candy and tea, in self defense.

ABC News reports that this is the first piece of publicly available evidence that supports Zimmerman's claim that "Martin had bashed his head against the concrete as Zimmerman fought for his life."

A few weeks ago, ABC News released video of Zimmerman being brought into a Florida police station. At first, the network said the video showed Zimmerman had no injuries, but a few a days later, using an enhanced version of the video, it concluded the video showed Zimmerman had sustained injuries to his head.

This new picture was not obtained from law enforcement and the network did not name the person who gave them the photograph. They report the person heard the fight between Zimmerman and Martin and took the photo shortly after the shooting. The metadata contained in the photograph shows it was taken in the vicinity of the shooting and only three minutes after the shooting took place.

"Prosecutors have seen all the evidence and still believe Zimmerman murdered Trayvon," Martin's family told ABC News in a statement.

As Scott reported earlier, a judge set a $150,000 bail this morning, saying if Zimmerman was released from jail to await trial he "would be electronically monitored, could have no contact with Trayvon Martin's family and would be prohibited from possessing firearms or using alcohol."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.