Witness recalls efforts to save wounded Trayvon Martin

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The jury in the George Zimmerman trial was shown photos Tuesday of Trayvon Martin’s body and a closeup of a chest wound as a police sergeant testified about his attempts to save the teenager’s life.

Sgt. Anthony Raimondo of the Sanford, Fla., police department told jurors how he arrived at the shooting scene, in the evening drizzle, on Feb. 26, 2012, to find Zimmerman handcuffed by another officer.

Martin’s body was on the grass, facedown with his hands under him, Raimondo said.

He said he checked the 17-year-old for a pulse and found none and then turned him over to perform CPR.

“I breathed for Mr. Martin — or I tried to,” Raimondo said, adding that the other officer performed the chest compressions.

Editor’s note: Photos from the crime scene, which some readers might find disturbing, are included below.

Raimondo said there was a bubbling noise – the sound of air escaping from the chest wound — and he asked for plastic wrap and Vaseline so he could create an airtight seal around it. A passerby brought him a plastic bag.

The sergeant testified that he sat the body upright to feel for an exit wound and felt a cold can in Martin’s hooded sweatshirt pocket – the Arizona brand fruit drink he had purchased at a 7-Eleven where he also bought Skittles for a his father’s girlfriend’s young son.

Raimondo laid the body back down to continue CPR, but could not revive Martin. After a rescue crew arrived and pronounced Martin dead, Raimondo put an emergency blanket over the body, he testified.

While the 14-year veteran was on the stand, prosecutors displayed pictures of Martin’s body facedown on the grass, face-up after the CPR attempt, and under the emergency blanket. There was also a photo of what appeared to be a coin-sized chest wound. Martin’s father left the courtroom as the pictures were shown.

It was the most graphic evidence to date in the trial, which began in earnest Monday with opening statements. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming he shot Martin in self-defense.

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