George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Trayvon Martin Shooting: Report

George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Trayvon Martin Shooting: Report

George Zimmerman will reportedly be charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to the Washington Post. NBC News confirms the report.


This is a developing story, please stay tuned for updates





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NBC: George Zimmerman to be charged in Trayvon Martin case

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

Updated at 2:34 p.m. ET: The special prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case will announce criminal charges against George Zimmerman Wednesday afternoon, a law enforcement official told NBC News.

The nature of the charges weren't immediately known, the official told NBC News Justice Department correspondent Pete Williams, speaking on condition of anonymity. But because Angela Corey, the special prosecutor appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to re-examine the case, previously announced that she wouldn't take the case to a grand jury, first-degree murder is not an option.

Authorities in Sanford, Fla. — where Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Martin, 17, on Feb. 26 — also began preparing for an announcement from Corey, NBC station WESH of Orlando reported. Seminole County sheriff's deputies spent Wednesday morning setting up barricades along the booking area for new inmates at the county jail.

Martin's father, Tracy Martin, said he was looking forward to Corey's announcement.

"It's 44 days later, and George Zimmerman is still walking free," Martin said at a news conference during a meeting of the National Action Network in Washington. "It's 44 days later, and my son is in a mausoleum."

Benjamin Crump, their attorney, urged people to "remain peaceful" after the expected announcement.

Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Peruvian, says he shot Martin, who was black, in self-defense after following him in a gated community in Sanford. Police questioned Zimmerman but decided against pressing charges.

The lack of an arrest or charges has sparked protests nationwide, with critics alleging that Zimmerman confronted Martin because of his race. Zimmerman's supporters deny that.

Corey said Tuesday that she wouldn't convene a grand jury probe. That announcement came before Zimmerman's attorneys said they had lost touch with their client and were withdrawing from the case.

A federal civil rights investigation is also under way, but U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department had to meet a "high bar" to bring any charges.

The main federal role is to "support the state in its ongoing investigation," Holder told reporters Wednesday morning in Washington. At the same time, he said, the Justice Department is conducting its "own thorough and parallel investigation" to try to resolve the case "in as fair and complete a way and as quickly as we can."




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George Zimmerman To Be Charged In Trayvon Martin Shooting: Report (UPDATE)

UPDATE: According to the Associated Press, an official said Zimmerman is in custody and is expected to be charged with second-degree murder.

PREVIOUSLY: George Zimmerman will reportedly be charged in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to the Washington Post. NBC News confirms the report.

On Tuesday night, Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey told reporters that she would hold a news conference with an announcement on the case within 72 hours. According to a law enforcement official close to the investigation, Corey's office plans to announce that she is charging the neighborhood watch volunteer at a press conference Wednesday at 6 p.m., and an arrest is expected soon. It was not made clear what specific charges Zimmerman would face. ABC reports that investigators still don't know Zimmerman's whereabouts.

The news of the impending announcement came shortly after a bizarre press conference in which Zimmerman's lawyers said they no longer represent him, claiming he has repeatedly rebuffed their legal advice and that they had lost contact with him.

"As of now we are withdrawing as counsel for Mr. Zimmerman," Craig Sonner, one of his attorneys, told reporters outside the Seminole County Courthouse in Sanford, Fla. "He's gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to, but at this point we're withdrawing as counsel. If he wants us to come back as counsel, he will contact us."

Protesters around the country have held rallies calling for Zimmerman's arrest, and a fringe group put a $10,000 bounty on his head, prompting him to go into hiding over concerns that he is in physical danger.

Although Sonner maintained that Zimmerman was "still in the United States," Hal Uhrig, another of Zimmerman's former attorneys, said that Zimmerman was not in the state where the fatal confrontation took place.

"You can stop looking in Florida," he told reporters. "Look much further away than that."

Zimmerman said he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, on Feb. 26 in the gated community where the girlfriend of the teenager's father lived in Sanford. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, called 911 and told a police dispatcher that Martin, who was returning from a trip to a nearby convenience store, "looked suspicious." After an altercation, Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest. He told the local police that he shot Martin in self-defense, and was not arrested or charged.

Corey announced earlier this week that she would not convene a grand jury in the case. Experts familiar with Corey's background say she has a reputation for avoiding grand juries in cases in which they are unnecessary. Under Florida law, murder charges can only be issued by a grand jury. Zimmerman may face other charges in the shooting death, including manslaughter and assault.

Both of Zimmerman's former lawyers said they stood by their previous comments on the case and maintain that Zimmerman was acting in self-defense.

This is a developing story, please stay tuned for updates



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