Phone call 'blows' man's self-defense

SANFORD, Fla., March 20 (UPI) -- A phone call made by a Florida teenager before he was slain blows his shooter's self-defense claim "out of the water," a lawyer for the teen's family says.

Attorney Benjamin Crump told ABC News Trayvon Martin, a black teenager from Sanford, made a phone call to his girlfriend shortly before he was shot by self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on Feb. 26, which "blows [his self-defense claim] out of the water."

Zimmerman said he shot Martin self defense and has not been arrested for the incident.

"This young lady connects the dots," said Crump. "Arrest George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin in cold blood, today."

The girl, whose name was not released, said she was on the phone with Martin during part of his altercation with Zimmerman.

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," she told ABC News. "I asked Trayvon to run and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run, but he said he was not going to run."

Eventually, the girl said Martin began to run and thought he had lost Zimmerman, but then ran into him again.

"Trayvon said, 'What are you following me for,' and the man said, 'What are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."

Before running into Zimmerman, Martin was out buying snacks at a convenience store.

The girl was distraught after the phone call and ended up spending the night in the hospital, Crump said.

"She was really traumatized over this. They were dating. It's a situation where to know you were the last person to talk to the young man who was one of the most special persons in the world to you," Crump said.

The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case.

The lawyer said he will be giving the details of the phone call to the federal investigation.

"We're going to turn this over to the Justice Department because the family does not trust the Sanford Police Department to have anything to do with the investigation," said Crump.