(RNN) - The lead investigator in the case of the teenager shot to death by the neighborhood watch captain in a Florida gated community wanted to press charges against the shooter.
According to ABC News, lead investigator Chris Serino wanted to charge George Zimmerman with manslaughter after interviewing him on the night he shot Trayvon Martin, 17.
He filed an affidavit with the court urging the manslaughter charge, but was overruled by the state's attorney, Norman Wolfinger, according to a report on ABC News.com. Wolfinger told Serino the evidence would not support the manslaughter charge.
Martin's mother believes police did not file charges because they did not value the life of Trayvon Martin.
"I don' t think he was charged because they were trying to protect [Zimmerman]. They didn't understand how serious this was," Martin's mother told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday. "They didn't understand the value of his life."
Conflicting versions of that night's events have been aired in the media Monday and Tuesday, with one painting the teenager as the aggressor and the second as the victim.
Zimmerman told police on the night of the shooting that Martin punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground and pounded his head into the concrete. When police arrived on the scene, they found Zimmerman bleeding and Martin lying face down on the grass.
According to police, at least one unnamed witness says he or she heard Zimmerman cry for help.
The altercation began when Zimmerman called emergency operators to tell them he had spotted a black male acting suspiciously in the neighborhood. The operator instructed Zimmerman not to pursue Martin. However, he disobeyed instruction and continued to follow Martin.
The teen's girlfriend has given sworn testimony that she was talking to Martin on his cell phone just before the confrontation, and he was scared and trying to elude Zimmerman.
Trayvon Martin's father, Tracy Martin, said he believes an arrest was not made because Zimmerman and the police "profiled" Martin.
"It certainly confirmed all of my thoughts that this investigation had been botched from the beginning, and that people knew there was supposed to be an arrest made," said Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin's dad.
Family attorney Ben Crump said the lead investigator wanted to file charges because Zimmerman's account did not add up.
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