Tracy Martin, father of slain teen Trayvon Martin, has opened up to the Orlando Sentinel about his relationship with his late son and his ordeal since Trayvon’s death. Martin described his son’s love of motorcycles and how Trayvon enjoyed his first solo ride three weeks before his death. He believes stories like that have been left out of the narrative surrounding his son. “It’s moments like that that the public doesn’t know,” said Martin. “Those were the kinds of things that I look back on and I can smile.”
Martin also spoke of his relationship with his ex-wife and Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton. The pair was able to maintain a friendship after divorcing in 1999 but have become closer since joining to seek justice for their son. “We need to lean on each other,” he said. “We know we need each other to get us through this.”
By all accounts, father and son were very close. Trayvon even saved his father from a house fire. “Trayvon has been, so to speak, my best friend since the time he could walk,” said Martin. Others that knew the father and son could also attest to the closeness of their relationship. According to Martin’s ex-wife Alicia Stanley, Tracy and Trayvon were “were the best of friends. He is a very good father.”
The elder Martin vividly remembers the day he found out his child was dead. Trayvon had not come home the night before and he was preparing to put in a missing person’s report. A detective showed up soon after. Martin showed him a picture of his son and the detective went to his car and came back with a folder. “They showed me a picture, and it was my son, laying on the ground dead,” says Martin.
George Zimmerman, the man who shot Travyon, was charged with second degree murder on April 11, 44 days after he shot the 17-year-old. Zimmerman is currently out of jail on bond.
