George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murder charges last year in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, says he now neither has a home nor a job, he's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and he owes millions of dollars in legal debts to his attorneys.
But the 30-year-old Floridian, in an interview set to air on Spanish-language television network Univision Sunday night, does not express any regrets for shooting the 17-year-old Martin,
reports The Los Angeles Times.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, encountered the unarmed teen walking through his gated community in Sanford, Fla. He said he thought the boy was the burglar responsible for a string of break-ins, and shot Martin during a confrontation, later saying he was acting in self-defense.
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"In my mind and between God and me, I know that if I didn't act, act the way I did, I wouldn't be here," he says in his Univision interview. "I mean, he wasn't playing around."
Zimmerman, according to an English-language translation of the interview released on Saturday, also says he never realized Martin was not armed, but that the teen tried to grab his gun. He said he also thought his bullet missed Martin and hit a house.
But even with his acquittal, Zimmerman said he continues to pay for the incident. He owes $2.5 million to his attorneys, Mark O'Mara and Don West, but said he is now not able to find work, and has not been able to raise enough money to pay off his debt.
He has raised more than $300,000 from online donors, and said he hopes to collect more money through a lawsuit
he filed against NBC News over an edited 911 call which he complains makes him look like a racist.
Some of Zimmerman's other money-making plans have faced some issues, however. He was able to raise $100,000 through selling one of his paintings on eBay, but the Associated Press is demanding that a second painting's sale not happen, saying he used one of the news service's photographs without permission.
In addition, Zimmerman was to have f
ought rapper DMX in a celebrity boxing match, but it was called off after fight promoter Damon Feldman said threats were made against him, and a public outcry made organizers change their minds.
Zimmerman, though, says in the interview that despite his financial issues, he has not collected any welfare benefits, and will work as a cook if he needs to. Meanwhile, his family is supporting him.
He also blames the media for many of his ongoing problems, and people recognize him everywhere because "of what the press did with the incident in 2012, in February.”
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