By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services
Updated at 2:45 p.m. ET: The man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, setting off a nationwide outpouring of anger, told police that Martin knocked him down with a single punch and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times — an account that police said witnesses have corroborated, according to The Orlando Sentinel.
George Zimmerman, 28, has gone into hiding from the public, and his account of what happened one month ago hadn't previously emerged as demands for his arrest grew louder.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Monday that police said Zimmerman has described and re-enacted the events this way:
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from behind. The two exchanged words, and Martin decked him with a punch to the nose and began beating him. He told police he shot Martin in self-defense.
Witnesses said they heard someone cry out in distress, some of them telling NBC News and other news organizations that it was Martin. But police told the Sentinel their evidence indicated it was Zimmerman.
One witness told police he saw Martin pounding Zimmerman on the ground. This witness was certain it was Zimmerman who was crying for help, the Sentinel reported.
When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, and he had a swollen lip and bloody lacerations to the back of his head, the newspaper reported. Police said Zimmerman wasn't badly injured and didn’t seek treatment until the next day.
In a statement, the Sanford Police Department said the Sentinel's report was "consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the police department," but it said it hadn't authorized the disclosure.
Citing a police source, ABC News reported separately Monday that a 13-year-old eyewitness told police he saw a man fitting Zimmerman's description lying on the grass moaning and crying for help seconds before he heard the gunshot.
Jackie Barnard, a spokeswoman for the 4th Circuit state's attorney's office, told NBC News that investigators and prosecutors returned to Sanford to continue their casework Monday and will soon meet with federal officials.
Barnard said she hadn't seen the Sentinel story but would share it with Corey and that she might have a comment later in the day.
Toxicology tests on Martin's body were still pending, but a spokesman for his family confirmed to NBC News that Martin was suspended for 10 days from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami for possession of an empty marijuana baggie.
Ben Crump, an attorney for Martin's family, said at a news conference that Sanford police were "attempting to demonize and blame the victim by releasing bits and pieces of an ongoing investigation to build Zimmerman's claim up."
"Very clearly, whatever Trayvon Martin was suspended for had absolutely no bearing on what happened on the night of February 26," he said, adding that Martin "wasn't suspended for anything violent or criminal."
"If he and his friends experimented with marijuana, it's still completely irrelevant," Crump said.
Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner, has suggested that he will invoke Florida's "stand-your-ground" law, which provides significant leeway for people to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger. Angela Corey, the special prosecutor reviewing the case, said that would make getting a conviction "more difficult than a normal criminal case."
"The stand-your-ground law is one portion of justifiable use of deadly force," prosecutor Angela Corey told ABC News. "And what that means is that the state must go forward and be able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. ... So it makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case."
Corey added that it's also not clear whether prosecuting the death as a hate crime would lead to a conviction. Martin was black; Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.
"It would depend on which charge, if any, we're able to file," said Corey, whom Gov. Rick Scott appointed to review the case. "Before we would be able to determine, one, if this is a hate crime, and two, whether or not that would enhance the crime."
Sonner, Zimmerman's attorney, said Monday on NBC's TODAY show that "George Zimmerman is absolutely not a racist." Joe Oliver, a friend of Zimmerman's, described him on the show as being "dedicated," not obsessed, with his duties as neighborhood watch captain.
"I'm a black male, and all that I know is that George has never given me any reason whatsoever to believe he has anything against people of color," Oliver said Sunday.
Sonner and Oliver said they had decided to talk to the news media because of what they believe is a one-sided portrayal of what happened.
Also Sunday, "Dateline NBC" aired an interview with a woman who said she and her roommate heard and saw the last moments of Martin's life.
Dateline NBC interviews woman who saw aftermath
Mary Cutcher said they heard the voice of what sounded like a young person in distress just before hearing a gunshot.
"It sounded young," she said. "It didn't sound like a grown man is my point."
She added that as they looked out from their apartment they saw Zimmerman "straddling the body, basically, a foot on both sides of Trayvon’s body and his hands pressed on his back."
Zimmerman then told them to call the police, Cutcher said. "Zimmerman never turned him over or tried to help him or CPR or anything."
Meanwhile, the Smoking Gun, a website that tracks criminal cases and document filings, reported Monday afternoon that Martin's mother, Sabrina Fulton, filed two applications last week for trademarks on her late son's name.
Fulton is seeking marks for the phrases "I Am Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon," according to filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In both instances, Fulton is seeking the trademarks for use on "Digital materials, namely, CDs and DVDs featuring Trayvon Martin," and other products.
Following is the full text of the statement Monday confirming The Orlando Sentinel's report by the Sanford, Fla., Police Department:
In response to the recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, the information was not provided to the media through an authorized source at the Sanford Police Department, but possibly by a leak from within the department. The information in the article is consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the police department.
"We do not condone these unauthorized leaks of information," said City Manager, Norton Bonaparte, Jr. "Acting Chief Scott will be doing an internal investigation within the Sanford Police Department as this type of action compromises the integrity of the law enforcement agency which has pledged to uphold the law".
Mr. Bonaparte stated that disciplinary action including possible termination will be taken against anyone found to have leaked the information.
Reuters; The Associated Press; NBC News' Roxanne Garcia and Tom Winter; and Miguel Llanos and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com contributed to this report.
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