George Zimmerman is in custody in Florida and will be charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, authorities announced Wednesday. His attorney said he would plead not guilty. 
 
 "We did not come to this decision lightly," Angela Corey, the special prosecutor appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to re-examine the case, said at a news conference in Jacksonville. 
 
 Corey had previously said she wouldn't present the case to a grand jury, which took first-degree murder off the table. Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. 
 
 Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara — who took the case late Wednesday after Zimmerman's previous attorneys withdrew — said Zimmerman would plead not guilty and that he would seek Zimmerman's release on bond Thursday. 
 
 "I think he's troubled by the fact the state decided to charge him," O'Mara said "... I would think anyone charged with second-degree murder would be scared." 
 
 Corey said she decided last week to seek the charge but needed several days to make sure all details were in order. She said she had informed Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. 
 
 In a brief statement in Washington at a news conference at a gathering of the National Action Network, Fulton said: "We just wanted an arrest, and we got it, and I say thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus." 
 
 (The National Action Network is a project of the Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC-TV's "PoliticsNation," who has played a prominent role in advocating for charges against Zimmerman.) 
 
 Ben Crump, the attorney for Martin's parents, said the decision was about "justice, justice and only justice." He said it was important that Zimmerman have a fair trial, even though "we believe in our hearts that he was wrong to kill Trayvon Martin." 
 
 Corey refused to discuss details of the case, saying she was committed to protecting the interests of both Martin and Zimmerman. 
 
 "So much information on this case has gotten released that should never have been released," she said. 
 
 Under Florida law, Zimmerman, 28, must be taken before a judge within 24 hours of his return to Seminole County, where he has acknowledged he shot and killed Martin, 17, in the town of Sanford on Feb. 26. Corey wouldn't say where he was being held to protect his safety. 
 
 Scott, who appointed Corey after Seminole County authorities declined to bring charges, said in a statement that the matter "is now in the hands of the judicial system and I am confident justice will prevail." 
 
 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 had sparked protests nationwide, with critics alleging that Zimmerman confronted Martin because of his race. Zimmerman's supporters deny that. 
 
 The decision whether to arrest Zimmerman was delayed for several weeks because Zimmerman had indicated that he would argue self-defense under Florida's so-called Stand Your Ground law, which shields subjects from prosecution if a judge determines that the shooting was justified to protect life or proerty. 
 
 Corey called the law "a tough affirmative defense to overcome," but she said, "If 'Stand Your Ground' becomes an issue, we will fight that affirmative defense." 
 
 O'Mara, Zimmerman's attorney, told reporters that he didn't think Zimmerman could get a fair hearing "today" because "the emotions are just running high in Central Florida." 
 
 "I am hoping the hatred settles down," he said. 
 
 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." ||||| Three years after teen Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., setting off a national debate on race and gun laws, the Department of Justice announced Monday it had concluded that there is not enough evidence to bring civil rights charges in the case. 
 
 Attorney General Eric Holder called the case "a devastating tragedy," in a press release. 
 
 "It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country," Holder said. "Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man's premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future." 
 
 Federal civil rights charges are difficult to press, let alone get convictions for. In its press release about the decision, the lack of charges against Zimmerman are said to be a result of being unable to meet the standard of proving that the "defendant knew his acts were unlawful, and committed those acts in open defiance of the law." 
 
 DOJ officials said they would have had to have proven that Zimmerman approached Martin "in a threatening manner before the fatal shooting because of Martin's race." 
 
 Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division said: "Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases." 
 
 In a statement released through their attorney, Martin's family thanked the DOJ for their "extensive and thorough investigation into the killing of our son." 
 
 "Although we are disappointed in these findings, it has steeled our resolve to continue traveling the country with the message of the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting our youth and empowering those who demand justice and peace," the family said. 
 
 On Feb. 26, 2012, Martin was walking back from a convenience store after purchasing a pack of Skittles candy and iced tea when Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, confronted him. The 17-year-old was visiting his father's fiancée at The Retreat at Twin Lakes community in Sanford with his father, and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. 
 
 Zimmerman told police immediately after the incident he killed the teen in self-defense after a scuffle. He was taken into custody but was released without charges being filed. The police chief in Sanford, Bill Lee, who later resigned, said Zimmerman was not arrested because his story held up under Florida's now much-debated "Stand Your Ground" laws. 
 
 About a month later, the story started making national headlines, as it was revealed that Martin was black and unarmed and that Zimmerman faced the prospects of no legal penalty. Media began reporting Zimmerman as being white, but his family insisted he was Latino. 
 
 On March 19, 2012, the Justice Department announced it would open an investigation into the case. 
 
 Attorney General Eric Holder expressed personal interest in the case, saying at the time: "At every level of today's Justice Department -- preventing and combating youth violence and victimization is, and will continue to be, a top priority." 
 
 After details of the incident began to leak - including 911 tapes and videos of Zimmerman in custody - as well as several back-and-forths about criminal charges from state and local officials, special prosecutor Angela Corey announced on April 11, 2012, that Zimmerman was being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting and that he was in police custody. 
 
 He was acquitted of murder charges on July 14, 2013, in a case that divided an all-female jury panel and set off nationwide protests. 
 
 The national race debate that the Trayvon Martin case began was later further inflamed by the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the chokehold death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., among other cases. 
 
 The Department of Justice also opened a civil rights investigation into each of those cases. It declined to press charges against former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the case of the Michael Brown shooting. The decision regarding the Eric Garner case is still open. 
 
 Zimmerman has since slipped into relative obscurity, and has had several other run-ins with police, mostly involving domestic disturbances.
– George Zimmerman will face criminal charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, reports the Washington Post, though it's not clear yet what they will be. The announcement from special prosecutor Angela Corey will come at 6pm Eastern, reports the AP, also citing anonymous sources. Zimmerman is expected to be arrested soon. The development comes a day after Zimmerman's attorneys dropped the case because they had lost contact with him. Whatever happens in Florida, Zimmerman also faces possible charges from a separate federal investigation. "I know that many of you are greatly—and rightly—concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages," Attorney General Eric Holder told a gathering today. "If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action," he said.