with under the circumstanc with us any time on facebook and twitter. and don't go away, "20/20" starts right now. tonight on "20/20" -- a shot in the dark. a verdict that could be just hours away. as six women huddle in a jury room, deciding the fate of george sympatzimmerman. >> every child's worst nightm e nightmare, to be followed on the way home in the dark. >> this is the path where they collided that night. >> the neighborhood watchdog on a collision course with a kid in a hoodie. trayvon martin. >> he said, you're going to die tonight, [ bleep ]. >> today, what got said in court? what everybody's thinking about. >> this case is not about race. it's about right and wrong. >> some say it's black and white. >> if he wasn't black, he wouldn't have followed him.

>> is a racial powder keg about to explode? >> we are not racist! we are not! >> countdown to a verdict. plus -- a wife who understands all too well, because her husband was gunned down, too. >> i said, stop right now, or i will shoot you. >> you believe he could have urn theed around and walked right back down that street. >> why didn't he go home? >> the so-called neighborhood bully, over a 3-year-old's birthday party. taking aim with a video camera and a gun. >> somebody messes with you, all you have to say is, you're in fear of your life, and you can kill that son of a bitch. >> a shot in the dark. here's elizabeth vargas and david muir. >> good evening. tonight, the fate of neighborhood watchman george zimmerman is now in the hands of that jury. six women, the all-female jury, not given the case and sequesters until they decide his guilty or innocence. if connected, second degree murder in the killing of trayvon

martin, george zimmerman could spend the rest of his life behind bars. >> and that jury will be deciding his fate based on just a single word. the word "help" and who was screaming it in the background of a chaotic 911 call. here's matt gutman, who has been on the case in florida since the story first broke. >> your verdict, finding george zimmerman either not guilty or guilty must be unanimous. >> reporter: the jury has the case after a tense three week trial filled with courtroom fireworks. >> he automatically assumed trayvon martin was criminal. >> reporter: the impossibly long hours and short tempers, even had the judge storming out on the legal teams. finally, there will be an answer

to the burning question, did george zimmerman kill trayvon martin? was it murder, manslaughter or self-defense? the tale of how martin and zimmerman's paths fatally collided started here in sanford, florida, a small bedroom community on the fringe of "the world's happiest city," orlando. but it's a long way from the theme park crowds on a raw february night inside this gated sanford community. >> this guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. >> reporter: that's the voice of george zimmerman -- and the "guy" he's talking about is trayvon martin, earlier seen buying an arizona drink and skittles at a 7-eleven. martin was heading back to his father's fiance's home in the housing complex where he was spending a ten-day school suspension after getting busted on a pot-related offense. something the jurors never heard. despite his youthful indiscretions, his family says martin was just a normal teenage kid into girls, rap music and airplanes. >> he was interested in flying planes. that fascinated him, which led him to go to a program to, you know, try to pursue his career in aviation. >> reporter: is there one thing that you miss most about him? >> i miss his smile.

he was a very affectionate teenager, so, i just miss him smiling and giving me a hug. >> it's raining and he's just walking around, looking about. >> reporter: initially, martin didn't know he was being tailed by zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain. by day, an auditor. by night, zimmerman, who had a past interest in law enforcement, kept a wary eye out on behalf of his neighbors. >> reporter: what was your first impression of this guy? >> i thought he was meek and easy going, and at first, i had a little trepidation that guy guy was going to run the neighborhood watch. >> reporter: how do you think he did as a neighborhood watchman? >> fantastic. you know, his efforts and diligence yielded results. >> and that firearm -- >> reporter: but in court, prosecutors painted zimmerman as an over-zealous wannabe cop. his language in this non-emergency call to police sparked the racial debate over the case.

>> she's got his hand in his waistband. and he's a black male. >> reporter: fueled allegations that he was aggressively profiling a harmless teenage student. >> just let me know if this guy does anything else. >> okay. these [ bleep ], they always get away. >> [ bleep ] punks. these [ bleep ], they always get away. those were the words in that grown man's mouth as he followed in the dark a 17-year-old boy. >> the prosecution wants to make it clear that he already had a mindset when he got out of his car and began to follow trayvon martin. >> armed with a fully loaded semiautomatic piston. >> reporter: prosecutors argue that zimmerman was hell bent on stalking martin, even when told by police to call it off. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay, we don't need you to do that. >> okay. >> reporter: and then zimmerman hangs up. at that point, martin is in the last phone call of his life, with his friend, rachel jeantel

and she says he's racked with worry about the mysterious man shadowing him. >> he just told me the man, the man looked creepy and -- >> he said the man looked creepy? >> creepy, white. >> okay. >> excuse my language, cracker. >> reporter: jeantel says she told martin to run away, but then she says she heard him being confronted by zimmerman. >> "why are you following me for?" and then i heard a hard breath man come say, "what are you doing around here?" and then i started to hear a little bit of trayvon saying, "get off, get off." >> reporter: this is the path where the lives of martin and zimmerman collided that night. and out here for 30, 40 seconds, there is a black hole of information, until dispatchers from 911 started getting flooded with calls. >> they're wrestling right in the back of my porch. >> someone's yelling, two doors down from me, screaming, hollering, help, help, help. >> reporter: then, a gunshot shatters the night. >> oh my god, somebody could be shot. >> oh my god. and there's a black guy down and it looks like he's been shot and he's dead.

>> george zimmerman did not shoot trayvon martin because he had to. he shot him for the worst of all reasons, because he wanted to. >> he said, "yo, you got a problem?" >> reporter: but in this police reenactment, zimmerman says it was he who was confronted by an angry trayvon martin. >> he said, "you got a problem now?" and then he was here and he punched me on the face. he got on top of me somewhere around here, and that's when i started screaming for help, i started screaming "help" as loud as i could. i tried to it is up and that's when he grabbed me by the head and tried to slam my head down. >> reporter: zimmerman says the confrontation escalated after martin spotted the gun on his hip. >> he looked at it, and he said, "you're going to die tonight, [ bleep ]." and he reached for it, i felt his arm going down to my side and i grabbed it and i just grabbed my firearm and i shot him. one time. >> after you shot him, what did he say? >> after i shot him, he like sat up and said "oh, you got me."

>> reporter: about two minutes after the shot rang out, this photo was taken at the scene. the defense says it confirmed zimmerman's account that he was attacked by martin. and in court, even a neighbor called as a prosecution witness appeared to back up zimmerman's account that he was the one being attacked. >> i could tell the person on the bottom had a lighter skin color. >> reporter: the jury has been presented with two completely contradictory accounts of what happened with no solid evidence to back up either side's claims. that is, until a critical piece of evidence is introduced. >> i'm going to play the whole thing. >> reporter: a 911 call where a voice is heard screaming for help. >> help! >> there's someone screaming outside. >> help! >> do you think he's yelling help? >> yes. >> reporter: 14 screams in 40 seconds. the critical question, does that desperate voice belong to trayvon martin or george zimmerman? >> if the jurors believe that it was george zimmerman screaming out for help, then it supports his theory that he acted in

self-defense. >> i thought it was george. >> reporter: to identify the voice, the defense calls a parade of zimmerman's friends -- who perhaps, not surprisingly, say it's him on the tape. >> do you know whose voice that is in the background screaming? >> yes, definitely. it's georgie, i hear it. i hear him screaming. >> there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that is george zimmerman. >> reporter: the mothers of both martin and zimmerman also take the stand and they confidently identify the voice as that of their son. >> who do you recognize that to be, ma'am? >> trayvon benjamin martin. >> i'm sure that's george's voice. >> defense calls tracy martin, your honor. >> reporter: but then the defense calls a more unlikely witness. >> so help you god? >> i do. >> reporter: trayvon martin's father, tracy martin. police said martin informed them after the shooting that he did not believe the voice on the tape was his son's.

but on the stand, martin seems to change his story, saying that after hearing the tape over 20 times, he's now convinced it was his son crying for help. >> i was listening to my son's last cry for help. i was listening to his life being taken. and i was coming to grips that trayvon was here no more. >> i think at the end of the day, the testimony of these witnesses will cancel themselves out. the jurors are going to have to listen to that 911 tape and they're going to have to decide for themselves who they believe that voice is. >> reporter: and the only person who knows exactly what happened that night? >> the defendant, george zimmerman. >> reporter: decided not to testify in his own defense. >> after consulting with counsel, not to testify, your honor. >> reporter: but the testimony of this woman, the so-called star witness, had everyone talking. >> a lot of people criticized her for her hair, for her skin, her darker skin tone. >> reporter: and her answers raised an ugly taboo. race.

>> we can't get justice for a young black boy. >> to say this case is not about race is ignoring the pink elephant in the room. >> reporter: stay with us. ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ hago que lo imposible sea posible, ♪ ♪ que todo lo increíble se vuelva visible, ♪ ♪ tres, dos, hola, ula... ♪ aplaudan en la luna. ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula,

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"20/20" continues. once again, matt gutman. >> reporter: rachel jeantel was the state's star witness. she was supposed to spellbind the jury with details of her phone call with trayvon martin, just moments before he was killed. then, she opened her mouth. >> that's real retarded sir. >> i'm sorry? >> that's real retarded to do that, sir. >> reporter: rachel jeantel, 19-years-old, and just entering her senior year. jeantel was pitted against savvy trial lawyers who kept her floundering on the witness stand

for seven hours. >> are you claiming in any way that you don't understand english? >> i don't understand you, i do understand english. >> reporter: this was the moment that people were waiting for, to hear this star witness, if you will. and it turned out to be something very, very different. it ended up not being about trayvon and ended up being more about her. >> reporter: jeantel was not only vilified, this professor says she was mammified. >> reporter: tell me what you mean by the mammyfication of rachel jeantel. >> a lot of people came out and criticized her for her hair, for her hair, her skin, her darker skin tone, for being overweight. >> reporter: and when she thought she was out, they brought her back in. >> i think we should plan on at least a couple of hours. >> what! >> reporter: most of what jeantel was supposed to say, got lost in how she said it. >> at that point, did you know anything more about the case?

>> nope. >> reporter: race surfaced again when jeantel said martin had referred to george zimmerman as a -- >> creepy-ass cracker. >> reporter: the defense team jumped on that, suggesting it was martin who had done the profiling. with jeantel -- race, a side show before, became the main attraction. >> to say this case is not about race is ignoring the pink elephant in the room. this case is about race. >> reporter: shortly after the bullet left zimmerman's gun, race became the flashpoint, but the wheels of justice in sanford were turning at glacial speed. >> we want arrest! shot in the chest! >> reporter: there was no arrest for six weeks. >> no justice! >> no peace! >> reporter: it divided sanford and a nation. >> if a black man had come into a white neighborhood and gunned down a 17-year-old boy, all hell would let loose. >> reporter: celebrities and average joes alike pulled on the

kind of hoodies martin wore that night. it inspired the million hoodie march, 1,000 miles iowa from sanford. high school walkouts. and so many protests. the message was being heard -- all the way to the white house. >> you know, if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon. >> if i were a d.a., i would not have touched this case. >> reporter: christopher darden, famous for prosecuting o.j. simpson, knows how first hard race can influence a murder trial. do you think the issue of race could actually affect the way the jurors decide on the verdict? >> people say all the time, all around, everywhere i go, if he wasn't black, he wouldn't have followed him. if he wasn't black, he wouldn't have gotten out of his vehicle. if he wasn't black, he wouldn't have confronted him. >> metro police department. okay, and this guy, is he white, black or hispanic? >> he looks black. >> reporter: zimmerman was only responding to a direct question

from the 911 operator, but those three words stung many. >> we lift up this case to you, because you, father god, know exactly what happened that night. >> reporter: here at the ame allen church in sanford, churchgoers say publicly what many feel privately. >> i can assure you unequivocally, if i had been a black man and killed a 17-year-old white boy under the conditions that that boy was murdered, i'd been in jail, probably doing time now. you know, i'm just calling it like it is. >> reporter: about a third of sanford's 54,000 residents are black. as the trial gripped their community, some church members began speaking out on an unholy topic. >> until we become honest about the divide that exists in this community, there will be no getting better. >> reporter: still, this little church dreamed big, with a laundry list of prayers to be answered. >> first thing we asked for was the arrest. then we asked for the chief of police to be fired, and we did

get our african-american chief. that was our heart's devir. >> reporter: divine intervention? perhaps. but it was the city manager's intervention that fired the old police chief and hired cecil smith. do you think you were hired because you are african-american? >> i think i was hired for my qualifications. >> reporter: smith will attempt to play top cop, mediator and peacemaker all at the same time. >> there's been essentially a separation between the two races for quite some time. and our goal right now, at least for a police chief, is to try to bridge that gap. >> reporter: just yesterday in closing arguments, and speaking to the all-female jury, all but one of whom are white, prosecutor bernie de la rionda invoked martin luther king's "i have a dream" speech as he tried to do damage control on rachel jeantel's testimony. >> i have a dream that today, witness would be judged not on the color of her personality, but the content of her testimony.

>> reporter: folks in sanford are well aware the nation is watching -- >> big week in the zimmerman trial. >> reporter: the trial broadcast wall to wall on tv. >> is this a race case? yes, because we've all interjected race into it. those civil rights activists and the media. you helped to make this a race case. >> reporter: at the most racially charged trial in memory, tv cameras have also spotted channa lloyd. this 34-year-old african-american law student works for the defense as a law clerk, which means by extension, she works for george zimmerman. the jaded will say she is nothing more than a legal prop. you sit there every day, you look at george zimmerman sitting right next to you. how do you feel about him? >> i feel bad for george. >> i think it's very unfortunate that trayvon martin lost his life, because loss of life is always unfortunate. but i think that george is also fighting for a life that probably will never be the same. but it's still his. >> reporter: do you think of george zimmerman as a topic differently than you think of george zimmerman the person? >> absolutely. >> reporter: have other people

asked you about her? >> yeah, some have asked, you know, is she there because of her race? and you know, the answer is pretty easy. no. >> reporter: another example of the case that's all about race, despite the word rarely mentioned in court. racism has been the elephant in the room in the trial but never overtly mentioned. >> it's sort of the ultimate personification of how race plays itself out in our society today. you can't -- you don't really know. >> reporter: and you can't really put your finger on it. >> right. but you feel it. right, if you're on the receiving end of that. you feel it. >> are you claiming in any way that you don't understand english? >> reporter: the case is about to come to its conclusion. when it does, it's all hands on deck. what percentage of your police force is going to be ready in anticipation of whatever happens? >> our entire police department. >> reporter: everybody. >> there's no vacations, there's no furloughs. >> i don't know how you feel about it, but i'm telling you right now, zimmerman is guilty, whether you or the nation who is on his side don't like it, he's guilty. >> reporter: and if, as many suspect, george zimmerman is

acquitted, he'll win his freedom, but he may not ever really be free. >> i think he stays in hiding. but if i was him, i'm not sure i would take the chance of walking down the street. >> and so tonight, how much do you think race will impact the jury's final decision? deliberating now. let us know, use #abc2020. and we'll be right back. next -- the city of sanford. gripped by fear. death threats. anonymous phone calls. and their mayor, whose family is a target. >> he looks absolutely terrified. >> chaos and casualties, even before the verdict. applebe take two seasonal menu lets you choose two of five seasonal favorites starting at just $10.99. [ male announcer ] that sounds like a lot of choices. exactly! and the flavors complement each other perfectly. like our new blackened sirloin with the green goddess wedge salad or lemon shrimp fettuccine and seasonal berry spinach salad. ohh, the garlic rosemary chicken pasta... [ male announcer ] woah, woah, chef? you had us at two seasonal favorites starting at $10.99. really? fist bump.

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"20/20" continues with, a shot in the dark. >> reporter: more than two weeks of testimony. 56 witnesses. hundreds of pieces of evidence. but only one man knows exactly

w457d t what happened the night trayvon martin was killed. and today in closing arguments, his lawyer called him a victim. >> there was some anger and hostility and ill will and spite, maybe, that night. it just had nothing to do with george zimmerman. well, that's not true. it had something to do with george zimmerman. he was the victim of it. >> reporter: defense attorney mark o'mara implored the jury not to assume anything or make snap judgments. and laid the burden of proof squarely at the feet of the prosecution. >> give me a shred of evidence that contradicts that he had any other option. >> reporter: sybrina fulton couldn't take it, leaving the courtroom as pictures of her dead son played one last time for the jury. six women, five of them mothers. >> isn't that every child's worst nightmare? to be followed on the way home, in the dark -- >> reporter: and lawyers for the state of florida tried to depict george zimmerman as a man who had choices and made a deadly

one. >> trayvon martin may not have the defendant's blood on his hands but george zimmerman will forever have trayvon martin's blood on his. >> reporter: two lives, forever changed. >> your verdict is not going to bring trayvon benjamin martin back to life. your verdict is not going to change the past, but it will forever define it. >> reporter: and as the nation is about to turn its attention away from this tiny community, one person is left to pick up the pieces. >> a guy lost his life. another guy shot him. when you pull that trigger, no matter what's going on, your life has changed. whether you go to jail or don't go to jail, your life is totally, totally different. >> reporter: sanford mayor jeff triplett says there's no going back. still, he's preserved every

moment of this tragedy. this is really like a little sliver of history. it's a scrapbook of a city turned upside down. faded clippings of memories still fresh. your son looks terrified there. >> he looks absolutely terrified as to what's happening. >> we want arrest! >> the innocence of the children watching all this and trying to understand what's going on. >> reporter: here in sanford, being mayor is only a part-time job. but keeping the city safe amid nasty e-mails, manonymous phone calls, even death threats, became a full-time occupation. >> it was a lot of pressure. and i don't care if you're the major of new york city or sanford, florida, there's no way you can truly be prepared for it. >> reporter: where astray von martin lost his life, others lost their livelihoods. police chief bill lee, a 30-year veteran, was fired. >> he's a good man. for me, it wasn't what the

investigation was, it was the handling afterwards, the chaos management, so to speak. >> he didn't take the -- >> reporter: shouted down during a press conference weeks after the shooting, he marches away as i try to talk to him. i understand your frustration. >> i thought for the good of the community and particularly for the good of the police department, we needed to move forward. >> reporter: but lee wasn't the only cop casualty. once a star detective, chris zurino was banished to the graveyard shift. night patrol. he was called by the prosecution, but ironically, helped the defense, saying george zimmerman was believable. >> his statement, what did that indicate to you? >> either he was telling the truth or he was a complete pathological liar. one of the two. >> reporter: and then, there's the police department spokesman,

silent, as we. morganstern? >> he's still a sergeant on the police department. >> reporter: but no longer the public information officer? >> no, he is right now on worker's comp. he's on light duty. >> reporter: okay. but the public remains rattled. especially in the sleepy development where neighbors are still defending zimmerman. >> matt, he had -- >> reporter: he may have fought, but -- >> he has these, matty. he had these, okay? >> reporter: you'll never convince frank that zimmerman did anything wrong that night. 16 months ago, you would have never been on tv. now you are on tv three times a day. >> everybody has 15 minutes of fame. mine's on a loop, matt. >> reporter: but fame's had its price. especially those that never asked for it. >> you have jonathan good that saw the fight. you have jeremy and jenna, who made the 911 calls. you have the minolos. you have selma, you have sell lean.

all these people are casualties of this tragedy. >> reporter: and then there's another resident. george zimmerman. tonight, awaiting a verdict. how does one plan for that? >> i think you do the best you can toed spend time with your loved ones because you may never hug them or see them or walk down the street with them again. >> reporter: lives destroyed, careers ended. a city ripped apart by the greatest casualty of all. the death of 17-year-old say von m trayvon martin. the major, now more of a custodian, trying to piece the broken city together. >> you apologize and you try to make things better. that's all you can do. you cannot change the past. but you can walk through it and try to make it better. >> if you were in that jury room right now, would you convict or acquit george zimmerman? let us know on twitter using #abc2020. we'll be right back.

next, a kid's karaoke party that turned into chaos. all caught on tape. >> i said, stop right now or i will shoot you. i'm in fear for my life. get away from me. >> he says they threatened his life. but what does the dead man's wife say? >> when you hear him saying he fears for his life, is that real? or rehearsed? >> very much rehearsed. >> another zimmerman? when we come back. in atlantis blue is mine! , thx i was here first, it's mine. i called about that one, it's mine. mine! mine. it's mine. it's mine. mine. mine. mine. mine. it's mine! no it's not, it's mine! better get going, it's chevy model year-end event. [ male announcer ] the chevy model year-end event. the 13s are going fast, time to get yours. current chevy truck owners can trade up to this chevy silverado all-star edition with a total value of $9,000. "that starts with one of the world's most advancedy," distribution systems,"

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in the trayvon martin case, george zimmerman claims it is self-defense that he feared for his life. and tonight, 1,000 miles away, a very similar case. a shot in the dark, by a neighbor who claimed his life was in danger, too. but with one big difference. there was a videotape rolling on the entire thing. 22 minutes. tonight here, you'll see it for yourself and you can decide, was this self-defense or a man who wanted to pull the trigger?

like so many across america, mindy has been watching this trial closely. >> the only two people that know what happened are those two people. >> reporter: but mindy is watching because she's still living the horror of a case that also hinged on self-defense. her husband, a schoolteacher, a young father, was killed in an instant. and the gunman argued that he, too, feared for his life and pulled that trigger. make you think right back to your own case? >> unbelievable. >> reporter: two years before george zimmerman would shoot trayvon martin, her nightmare would begin in texas, where she lived with her husband kelly and their little girl, perry. it was may 2010, a celebration. cupcakes and candled marking two birthdays. mom mom's and her little daughter's too. she was turning 3? >> 3. >> reporter: it was a good often? >> awesome day. it was really fun. so many people were there we haven't seen in forever.

>> reporter: as it got late, there was drinking and karaoke. according to neighbors, raul and his wife donna, the birthday party becomes a neighborhood nuisance. >> turn that down! >> my husband had called the constable's office to have -- to ask them to come down, because it was so loud. >> reporter: the police come and go. the karaoke continues past midnight. and with every new song, rodriguez grows angrier. ♪ fire away >> stupid idiots. these people are stupid and they're drunk. >> reporter: neighbors knew that night, trouble was brewing. >> he said, i think there may be trouble fixing to happen. i just saw raul walking down the street. >> little after midnight. >> reporter: that's the voice of raul rodriguez, still speed dialing police. but he now has more than a phone in his hand. he has a video camera.

he's recording the whole thing. and he's marching towards their home. on his hip, a handgun. and 28 rounds of ammunition. >> wish these cops would hurry up and come out here. these people are drunk, drunk, drunk. >> reporter: rodriguez first encounters mindy's dad. >> why don't you turn that down, please? >> who are you? >> i live over here. turn it down! >> hey, don't go hollering at me. >> i'm hollerings because you can't hear me. i told you repeatedly. >> i hear you screaming. >> why don't you turn that garbage down, please. some of us is trying to sleep. >> reporter: then, men indy's husband kelly appears. rodriguez pulls that gun. >> don't come any closer. i said stop right now or i will shoot you. stop! get back! get back! i'm in fear for my life. get away from me. get away from me! >> you pulled a gun on me? >> i told you to stop. my life is in danger. you got weapons on you.

>> reporter: his friend, jamie, right there. >> he was asking, what are you doing down here, what's the problem? what are you doing down here? and he threw his hands in the airened he backed up immediately. >> reporter: tyler and the others call 911. >> there's a guy in the street with a gun. >> all right. >> pointed at us. >> reporter: rodriguez still recording with his video camera puts his gun in his holster and he calls police, too. >> i got about 15 people here, they wanted to kick my ass. i had to draw my weapon to stop them, to keep them from coming to me. i felt my life was in danger. i drew my weapon and then they stopped. >> reporter: rodriguez says he is scared and his life is in danger. yet, he doesn't try to live. you believe he could have just walked right back down that street? >> why didn't he got home? most normal people would have just went home. >> okay, they're going to escalate this. look, i'm going to have to defend myself. i'm going to have to defend myself. i'm going to have to defend myself. >> reporter: then comes the moment everyone would regret. kelly's friend ricky moves toward that neighbor, already

boiling mad. >> latughing at him, being sill little or goofy to the camera. >> that's when the shooting begins. >> look, i'm not losing to these people anymore. i'm going to just tell them to get back. they're drunk. >> reporter: rodriguez shoots ricky in the stomach. mindy's husband, kelly and the others, rush in. >> kelly at some point is shot also. >> harris county 911. >> there's gunshots being fired. >> he's shooting off his gun. >> three people down. >> so many people shot here. >> reporter: three shots from rodriguez, three men down. johnson and stet son are wounded. they survive. but steps away from the party celebrating his wife and daughter's birthday, 36-year-old kelly is on the ground, bleeding to death. his friend jamie tyler holding his hand and listening to his final words. >> i was holding pressure on his arm and talking to him and holding his hand.

just telling him that help was on the way. and he just -- he talked back and forth to me a little bit. told me that it hurt and he just faded away. let go. >> reporter: it was just moments earlier, mindy and her daughter were celebrating, blowing out candles. her family telling a young mother and wife to make a wish. >> and i said, i don't need to make a wish, i have everything i need. >> reporter: at that moment, you thought you had it all? what do you miss the most? >> watching him with perry. >> reporter: then suddenly, her husband, gone. deputies arrest rodriguez and put him in jail, but he's confident he'll beat the charges, because of one thing captured on his on videotape. when we come back, you'll hear it for yourself, and hear from the neighbors, one by one, revealing the secret life of the gunman. could it change everything? >> as soon as he stepped out of

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"20/20" continues. once again, david muir. >> reporter: four months after george zimmerman shot and killed trayvon martin in florida in self-defense, he says, raul rodriguez going on trial in texas for murder, saying he, too, feared for his life. >> this man is guilty of murder. not one thing he did out there that night was self-defense. >> reporter: his lawyers also claiming self-defense. >> i guess the state's theory is that somehow raul rodriguez went next door because he wanted to kill somebody. >> reporter: rodriguez may have had good reason to believe the law would be on his side. like florida, texas law allows you to stand your ground and does not require citizens to reeat the from trouble before using deadly force. >> anybody that knows the law would have thought that they had

a right under those circumstances to stand their ground. >> reporter: rodriguez says he followed the law, but what he and his lawyers call justified prosecutors call murder. >> this was not a case where raul rodriguez was standing his ground, but where a neighborhood bully was approaching unarmed individuals and looking for a reason and a circumstance where he could shoot his gun. >> it wasn't murder. i mean, i had to defend myself. >> reporter: rodriguez says he simply went to the end of the danaher's driveway at midnight because their karaoke singing was too loud. ♪ and that the next thing he knew as he told that police dispatcher was that a drunken mob was threatening his life. >> look, i'm in fear for my life right now. i'm in very -- that's why i drew my weapon. i'm in fear for my life. please help me now. i brought my video camera because i really believed that, that if i had documentation of this, that we could take this to court. >> reporter: he also brought

that hand gun and 28 rounds of ammunition. >> yes, i had a concealed handgun license. and it was perfectly legal for me to carry that weapon. i've carried a firearm everywhere i went. >> reporter: rodriguez says he first pulled his gun on kelly danaher and the other men at the birthday party, only after danaher came toward him. >> i'm telling you, i'm telling you to stop. i said stop right now, or i will shoot you! i says, if you don't stop right now, i'll shoot. and so he whoa, whoa, hey, hey, whoa. and so, he backs up. >> reporter: rodriguez put his gun away, but drew it a second time when he says when of danaher's friends, ricky johnson, came toward him. >> and i thought to myself, this guy's going to kill me. and i seen the look in his eyes and just hatred, and i seen him pull a weapon, and just as he was doing that, he started to cackle. and i brought it to bear like this, and that's when i grabbed my weapon and fired. >> reporter: rodriguez shoots ricky johnson and then he says kelly danaher, the father

throwing that birthday party, rushed him, along with others. he shot them too. >> and kelly danaher, he comes running at me with everything he's got. and i've seen an object in his hand too, it looked like a knife. and he's just like this, running at me, look what you did [ bleep ], [ bleep ], i'm going to kill you. and i was no, no, no, stop, stop, pow pow. >> reporter: he claimed he was in danger that night. was he in danger? >> no. none of those guys are fighters. they were telling him to go home. >> reporter: in court, prosecutors argue this is hardly a man who was reluctant to shoot. >> on that particular day, he didn't have glasses on. he wasn't wearing a suit. he had guns strapped on him like "gunsmoke." i am the law in these here parts, this is my neighborhood. >> reporter: and then neighbors from that street take the stand, one by one, describing the man who they say tried to rule their neighborhood. >> i label him like the

schoolyard bully. he always had a problem with somebody. >> oh, he thought he ran this neighborhood. the neighbors would actually alter their lifestyle to appease this man. >> reporter: but no testimony, no evidence, speaks louder to the jury, than the 22-minute video raul rodriguez took himself. there's kelly danaher, his hand on his heart in the final moments of his life. the video, a first-hand view of what unfolded that night. unlike the zimmerman case, where jurors must not imagine it for themselves. in the rodriguez case, he thought his video would clear him. >> look, i'm not losing to these people any more. i'm just going to tell them to stay back. they're drunk. they're swearing. >> who on earth in the history of the world takes a video camera to tape themselves when they think they're going to murder somebody? >> reporter: his attorneys argue rodriguez was afraid of kelly danaher that night. >> he has the right to pull a weapon if he feels like he's in fear of his life. this guy was not goin' up to raul to shake his hand or pat him on the back.

in raul's mind, he was going up there to whip his ass. >> reporter: rodriguez had a concealed handgun license and knew all about the texas stand your grand law, allowing for deadly force in you're in fear. >> i am in fear for my life. >> reporter: but those words, "i'm in fear for my life," would be the most damning part of the video, prosecutors would say, because rodriguez keeps repeating them. they believe not because he's truly scared but to cover himself. >> look, i'm in fear for my life right now. i'm in fear for my life. i'm in fear for my life. >> reporter: when you hear that video and you hear him saying he fears for his life, is that rehearsed or is that real? >> very much rehearsed. >> reporter: you think he knew that that law would protect him if he just said that? >> yeah, oh yes. most definitely. >> reporter: part of his plan? >> part of his plan. he was going to do it to somebody. he thought those buzz words, the parroting of the statute, would save him. what we have to know about this case, ladies and gentlemen, is that this man, those words are

rhetoric. those words are rehearsed. and those words are fiction. >> reporter: then neighbor terri hackathorn tells the court rodriguez actually told her once to use those very same words. that they would protect her if needed. >> he has instructed me before on what to say if i ever had to drop somebody, to ensure that i wouldn't get in trouble or go to jail, to tell authorities that i was in fear for my life. >> if somebody messes with you, all you have to say is, you're if fear for your life and you can kill that son of a bitch. >> he would try to convince anyone he came in contact with, hey, listen, if anyone sets foot in your property, you can blow them away. >> look, i'm in fear for my life right now. that's why i drew my weapon. i'm in fear for my life. >> all rise. >> reporter: the jury doesn't buy it. >> we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder. >> reporter: rodriguez is found guilty of murder.

and while mindy says she's satisfied rodriguez got what she deserves, she believes both cases, hers and the zimmerman case, reveal the need to re-examine in this country when picking the trigger is truly justified. because she learned in that moment, everything can be lost. mindy has watched her daughter celebrate three more birthdays without a dad. >> that's her being a goof ball. >> reporter: so many milestones missed. and she's missing a tooth. >> yeah, she had just lost her tooth, too, her very first tooth. >> reporter: do you know her wish? >> she said she was going to stay up all night and wait for the tooth fairy. unicorns and caddy. >> reporter: her wish was "unicorns and daddy." and as a mom, who just wants to make wishes come true. >> oh my gosh. i might even be able to pull off the unicorns. but the daddy one, oh, it just kills me. but the daddy one, oh, it just kills me. it just breaks my heart. bliste.

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