Zimmerman Arrested, Charged With 2nd Degree Murder

(CNN) -- George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who says he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed teenager in Sanford, Florida, has been charged with second-degree murder, special prosecutor Angela Corey announced Wednesday.



Zimmerman was arrested on a warrant and was in the custody of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, his new attorney, Mark O'Mara, told CNN legal analyst Mark NeJame.

The charges were announced in Jacksonville by Corey, who has said her job was "to find out the full truth" about the February 26 incident in Sanford.

For weeks, Trayvon Martin's parents have demanded an arrest in their 17-year-old son's shooting death. His mother, Sybrina Fulton, said earlier Wednesday, "I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that justice will be served."

Zimmerman's claim of self-defense failed to quell an uproar about the decision by Sanford police not to initially charge him and about Florida's "stand your ground" law, which allows the use of deadly force by anyone who feels a reasonable threat of death or serious injury.



Source: CNN