On Tuesday, a friend of Zimmerman's, former CNN anchor Joe Oliver, said Zimmerman had given him the same account as the one that appeared in the Sentinel, as well as additional details about what happened between the time the two came face to face and the time the gun went off.

Oliver, who now works at WESH-TV in Orlando, said he could not discuss the details Tuesday but said Zimmerman was sorry for what had happened.

"The George Zimmerman I know is not here anymore, because he knows that he took someone else's life, and he's extremely remorseful," Oliver said Tuesday on CNN's "Starting Point."

Oliver said race played no role in the incident.

"I understand completely the fear and anger that's out there over this case. If I didn't know George Zimmerman, I'd be right out there, too," said Oliver, who is African-American.

"But I do know George, and I do know that portrayal that young black men have had. I've experienced that growing up. I get that," Oliver said. "I understand that, but in this one spark incident, that wasn't the case. Race had nothing to do with it."

The Martin family and their supporters, however, have blamed Zimmerman, saying he racially profiled and shot the teen, who was wearing a hoodie. They have called for changes in what gun-control advocates sometimes refer to as "shoot-first" laws.

Crump, the Martin family attorney, said 911 tapes, phone records and testimony from the teen's girlfriend -- who was on the phone with him just before the shooting -- show Zimmerman is at fault. "Those facts are uncontroverted," Crump said.

Crump also said authorities were trying to "demonize" Martin with accounts that surfaced Monday saying Martin had been suspended from school in Miami for 10 days after a search of his book bag turned up an empty plastic bag containing marijuana residue. "Whatever Trayvon Martin was suspended for had absolutely no bearing on what happened on the night of February 26," he said.

Sybrina Fulton said, "The only comment that I have right now is that they've killed my son and now they're trying to kill his reputation."

Martin's family and their attorneys have also questioned the handling of the police investigation. City Administrator Norton Bonaparte said Tuesday he is in talks with the Department of Justice to establish a procedure for Sanford residents to have complaints investigated by an independent agency.

Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about the case. "He hasn't been back to his apartment, which is in that complex, ever since that happened, and he's being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, for depression, for insomnia," Oliver said. "He cried for days after this happened."