By NBC News staff
In an exclusive interview with Fox News? Sean Hannity, George Zimmerman again apologized to Trayvon Martin?s parents.
?I would tell them that again, I?m sorry," Zimmerman said. "I don?t have -- my wife and I don?t have any children. I have nephews that I love more than life. I love them more than myself. And I know when they were born, it was a different, unique bond and love that I have with them. And I love my children even though they aren?t born yet. And I am sorry that they buried their child. I can?t imagine what it must feel like. And I pray for them daily.?
Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. The case has become the focus of national media, and ignited an emotional debate over race and gun rights.
Zimmerman,?the son of a white father and Peruvian mother of Hispanic descent, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. He says? he shot Martin in self-defense after Martin attacked him. He is?currently out on bail.
Zimmerman explained to Hannity that he was headed to Target that Sunday night for his weekly grocery shopping.
"Sunday after we mentored the kids, we would go grocery shopping for cooking for the week, so I wanted to go to Target," he said. "That's the last time I've been home."
Zimmerman said that he was motivated to become a volunteer neighborhood watch after a robbery in their gated community. Robbers broke into the home of a young woman with a 9-month-old baby -- the woman then barricaded herself in an upstairs bedroom, Zimmerman said. His wife saw the robbers run through their backyard.
"Even though my wife wasn't certain what happened, that was enough to scare her," he said. "I promised her I would do what I could to be safe."
Phyllis Kotey, a legal expert who has followed the case, said there were several possible strategic reasons for O'Mara to allow his client to appear on national television.
"Clearly they are trying to humanize (Zimmerman) some more and give his story some traction," said Kotey, a former judge and prosecutor who now teaches at Florida International University College of Law.
She noted that?in a television appearance, Zimmerman can speak without the risk of cross-examination by the prosecution.
"Every time he does something public like this, he has an opportunity to get information to the potential jurors without having to take the stand," Kotey said.
The interview was taped on Wednesday morning and broadcast later Wednesday evening.
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