Prosecutor: News conference to be held in Trayvon Martin case within next few days

SANFORD, Fla. — The state attorney handling the Trayvon Martin case announced that she will be ready to release new information at any time in the next couple of days. State Attorney Angela Corey made the announcement around 8:00 p.m. Tuesday that a news conference regarding the shooting death investigation will be held in the next 72 hours in either Sanford or Jacksonville, Florida.

That new development comes just as gunman George Zimmerman’s lawyers said they lost contact with him.

Earlier on Tuesday, attorneys announced during a news conference at the Seminole County Courthouse that they are withdrawing their legal counsel for Zimmerman in the case of Martin's shooting death.

Attorney Craig Sonner said that against their advice, Zimmerman contacted Corey's office directly. She will decide if he should face charges. Sonner said they haven't heard from Zimmerman since Sunday.
 
A spokeswoman for Corey's office didn't immediately respond to an email and two phone calls requesting comment.

The attorneys said their former client has reached out to national radio talk show host Sean Hannity.

Hannity did admit to speaking to Zimmerman on Monday, but would not go into detail about their conversation.

“Yesterday I was contacted by an individual that we in fact believe was George Zimmerman. He reached out to me.  We spoke on the phone about his case and I agreed not to report on the contents of that conversation,” said Hannity.

Hannity said the situation with Zimmerman’s attorneys did not come up during their discussion.

"To handle it this way suggests he [Zimmerman] may not be in control of what's going on," said attorney Hal Uhrig.

Uhrig and Sonner also said Zimmerman launched his support website, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com, without telling them. A registry shows that the website was created last weekend.

Through the website, Zimmerman is soliciting donations after suffering what he called a "life altering" event.

"The support has been overwhelming in volume and strength," Zimmerman wrote on the site.

Sonner confirmed that all money raised from the site will go to Zimmerman.

Zimmerman said he shot 17-year-old Martin in self-defense after following him in a gated community in Sanford on Feb. 26.

Martin, who was unarmed, was black. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

Meanwhile, a woman told WFTV she was watching from her window the night Martin was shot and killed.

"She went back to her window and proceeded to observe everything that took place," said attorney Derek Brett.

Brett represents the woman, who did not want to be identified.

A lot of what the woman witnessed contracts Zimmerman's self-defense claim, such as the claim that Martin had slammed Zimmerman's head against the concrete.

"She saw all the action taking place entirely on the grass. She's affirmed that. There's nothing taking place on the sidewalk," Brett said.

She also said the voice she heard screaming for help was Martin's voice.

According to Brett, his client said the shooting happened while the two were on the ground.

While she admits it was too dark to see the scuffle, Brett said she saw Zimmerman get up as if he was the one who was on top.

However, she said Zimmerman held his head as if he was injured.

She said detectives seemed to be referring to Zimmerman as the victim even before any investigation was done.

"She had a completely different impression of how everything occurred," said Brett.

Meanwhile, Sanford police said shots were fired on Tuesday into an empty police cruiser parked near the townhome community where Martin was killed.

Sanford police told WFTV gunfire knocked out a window on the police cruiser near the Retreat Twin Lakes subdivision. The car was found with bullet holes after a witness said she heard six gunshots ring out.

The Sanford Police Department said the marked police vehicle had been parked a in the parking lot of Bentley Elementary School on Oregon Avenue for several weeks at the request of school officials.

The car was meant to be a visible deterrent after tour buses started bringing tourists to the area to see where the shooting happened, and the buses had been parking at the school.

No one was in the cruiser at the time, according to police. The vehicle was taken to Sanford police headquarters.  Officers are still investigating.

WFTV