I've been following the Trayvon Martin incident like most of the rest of the country and things just aren't adding up. The more I hear of Zimmerman's account, the more something it feels like something is missing. I'm going to go over what I know of Zimmerman's account and add my commentary on what just doesn't make sense to me. This is largely based on what I've read/heard of Zimmerman's account of the incident. It's pieced together mostly from the Orlando Sentinel report, or from what the Trayvon's father said the police told him and what Zimmerman's friend and father have said Zimmerman told them in the several interviews I've seen. There may be some accounts that I haven't read and not all the accounts are exactly the same, but I'm going to try and judge the plausibility of the events as I understand that Zimmerman said they happened. I'm largely going to use what I might have done were I in Trayvon's shoes as a measuring stick, and of course that might be completely different from what actually happened.
Zimmerman claims that after he had gotten out of his vehicle and was pursuing Trayvon, at some point before interacting with him, Zimmerman decides to turn around and head back to his car. Okay, seems plausible, if Zimmerman lost Trayvon it would make sense to head back and wait for the police.
At some point as Zimmerman is walking away, Trayvon pops out and approaches Zimmerman from behind. Hmm... a little doubtful. Why after avoiding Zimmerman, walking fast etc., does Trayvon all of sudden decide he wants a confrontation. And even if he wanted to know why Zimmerman was following him, wouldn't he call out from from a distance (15 - 20 ft) and ask what he wanted as opposed to come right up behind him? Or is that just me?
Once they're facing each other Trayvon says, "You got a problem, homie?", Zimmerman responds "no", and then Trayvon says "you do now". (Or Zimmerman asks "what are you doing here", to which Trayvon responds "why are you following me" x2). At some point after this Trayvon punches Zimmerman in the nose. This also seems unlikely with out some other key missing dialogue. I'd be curious to know if Trayvon had been in fights before, most people just don't deck people (unless he was pushed which is what his girlfriend suggests). But I'll concede that after being followed around by a stranger some kids might be more free with there punches than I would be. As an aside, under the assumption that Trayvon was your average teenager, Zimmerman must have been a god-awful community watchman for allowing this situation to escalate. Ignoring the profiling, and the stalking (even after being told that the police did not need him to follow Trayvon), it seems very reasonable to believe that if when face to face with Trayvon, even given how Zimmerman alleges the conversation started, if Zimmerman had said, "hey, I'm with the neighborhood watch, I didn't recognize you. We've had some break-ins in the area so I just wanted to check what you were up to", It seems highly unlikely that the response would have been a punch in the face. Even those words appeared to be not to be well received, (if Trayvon had said something along the line, "I don't know you, I don't have to tell you anything") Zimmerman could have de-escalated thing with, "I have already called the police, they'll be here in a couple of minutes, they can sort things out when they get here".
Now this is where things get sketchy. To recap: Trayvon had walked up to him, said a few words, and then punched him in face, dropping him to the sidewalk. That seems to be in the realm of possibility. Certainly not have I or most kids would have acted, but some might. But now after Zimmerman's on the ground, Trayvon proceeds to straddle him, pinning his arms with his knees, put a hand over his mouth and pound him with his other hand and/or smash his head into the sidewalk for around a minute. Huh? Why? Some dude's been following you, you've punched him the face, he's on the ground with blood pouring out of his nose, why proceed to get on top of him to pound him further? Even assuming, Zimmerman pushed Trayvon first, I have a real difficult time believing that Trayvon would climb on top of him and bash his head into the sidewalk? The punch to the nose? Sure. But the rest... It just doesn't seem to be a reasonable response, even for a hot-headed teen. I much more likely response would be say "now, don't let me ever catch you following me again" or some other show of bravado. What Zimmerman described is a response to much more provocation than being followed by someone. The type of thing you'd only if you felt severely threatened (i.e. someone brandished a gun and intimated that they were going to use it on you). Otherwise, the only other situation where I could see Trayvon pinning him is if Zimmerman pulled Trayvon down, at which point Trayvon was able to get on top of him and punch him a couple times.
Now after being whaled on for some time and calling for help, Zimmerman tries to reach his phone. What? I know he had just spoken to the police but it seems like it would be difficult to make a call while someone is actively whaling on you. (Or maybe just while trying to wiggle onto the grass, to give his head a softer spot to bounce off) Trayvon spots Zimmerman's gun and says "now you're going to die." WHAT?!!!!! You're a 17 year-old kid, you've got some strange dude pinned, you realize he's packing, and you turn into a movie villain? I'm not buying that at all. At all. If I were in the situation, I'd be terrified... and start screaming for help or maybe start apologize profusely. Now, it's possible that I might try and grab the gun and take off. But there's no way, a regular person issues a death threat. To this point, according to Zimmerman he hasn't laid a finger on Trayvon, and now after beating him, according to Zimmerman, Trayvon states that he wants to murder him as well.
So somehow, Zimmerman after being taken down with one punch, being pinned and beaten for about a minute, and after Trayvon audibly states his intention to kill him is able to get his a hand free, unholster his gun, and shoot Trayvon in the chest. Hmm....