and jerome horton told me, he worked there right up until the time he left and went up to sanford. so he had been there all through his high school years, and people would come up to jerome, jerome told me, since the shooting, and have said, that young man that died, is that the young man who worked here in the concession stand? and jerome would say, yeah, that was him. and you know, few people here could believe it who did not know that it was the same person. but again, this evening here, we expect his family to be here, his parents are going to be here. members of his football team that he played with in the league here. so some very personal, personal memories will likely be shared here this evening. >> heartbreaking. thanks so much, john zarrella, appreciate that. >> cnn.com reporting mallory simon returned from sanford, florida. she writes on dot.com, for some, the case has become a rallying cry, a chance to hair what they believe are years of grievances and cases of injustice between the police, the courts, and the black community. for others, it has forced them to defend th

we spoke to a good friend of the family and his long-time coach, jerome horton.at trayvon was like outside of school, that he wanted to become a pilot. but also he talked about trayvon getting into trouble in school from time to time, according to some published reports. he also talked about why trayvon was in sanford with this suspension, the most recent suspension. here's what he had to say. >> i know how much his dad and his mom stayed on top of him, teaching him. like they can say, oh, he was suspended for ten days for whatever reason, but what's not coming out is that he was also under punishment for ten days that he was suspended. no one is bringing that up. he wasn't just up at sanford suspended from school and up in sanford kicking it and having a good time. he was up at sanford because his dad knew i'm not going to let you stay home, you're suspended from school and have a good time. no, you're going to stay with me. >> reporter: it's a very interesting interview. horton described martin as an average student, a good kid. his mother also said he was an a

before we get to that, we want to play a little bit of the coach here, the coach's name is jerome horton here is what he said about trayvon and then you and i will talk, want to fly planes. i said no black people want to fly planes, and the first one. >> that was his high school coach saying, hey, listen, that's what trayvon -- just talking about trayvon martin. we should let you know, the full interview will be tonight on "ac 360" at 8:00 p.m. here on cnn. what are you hearing about the investigation as we start to get more information about trayvon martin, about george zimmerman, his side of the story. what are you hearing about the investigation and the reaction there in the community? >> reporter: well, this is another day and another leak really of information. this time though not so the beneficial if you are on the side of george zimmerman because what it seems to indicate is that the lead investigator on the night of february 26th when 17-year-old trayvon martin was killed, wanted to file charges. in fact, we have obtained the initial police report and here under the area of offe

high school and decided he likes aviation more, and i'm joined by his coach, and coach horton, you coached him, jerome, and you knew him growing up. and this event tonight, what do you hope to get the message out? who is this for? >> this is truly for the martin family, tracy and sabrina to let them known that trayvon was their son, and he was also mere mar's son. we watched him grow from 5 years old to 13, 14 years old. and we want them to know we're behind them 110%. we're fighting with him. >> a lot of young men who he played with and grew up with are going to be here tonight? >> at least maybe 100, 150 of them have reached out to me to tell me that they're going to be here in support of them. >> you think this is going to be an emotional night. unlike so many of the others, marches that have taken place, this one is very personal. the people that really knew him best are going to be here. >> yeah, everyone that has come across trayvon and coach tracy's path at this park are going to be here. trayvon worked in this concessi concession, i mean, every day. monday through friday. monday through saturd