Florida Special Prosecutor Angela Corey announced Wednesday that George Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
"We did not come to this decision lightly," Corey told reporters. "We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition."
Zimmerman, who surrendered to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, was out of the state, according to his attorney Mark O'Mara. He later told CNN that "I think for what's standing in front of him, I think he is ok."
O'Mara later told reporters that Zimmerman would plead not guilty.
Meanwhile, Martin's parents spoke at another news conference after Corey had finished her remarks. Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, said, "We just wanted an arrest."
"First of all, I want to say thank God," said Fulton. "We simply wanted an arrest; we wanted nothing more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest, and we got it and I say thank you, thank you Lord, thank you Jesus."
The Rev. Al Sharpton also spoke at the press conference, saying that Zimmerman "deserves a fair trial."
"We don't want anybody high-fiving tonight. There's no victory here. There are no winners here. They've lost their son," he said.
Zimmerman says he shot Martin -- an unarmed teen walking back from a store -- in self-defense the night of February 26 in Sanford, Florida. Although he was taken to the police station and questioned that night, Zimmerman was not arrested.
The news comes a day after Zimmerman's legal team announced they were dropping him as a client. Attorneys Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig told reporters Tuesday afternoon they have lost contact with Zimmerman, who they last heard from on Sunday.
The pair said Zimmerman has made several significant decisions without informing them or seeking their counsel, including calling the special prosecutor's office directly Tuesday, going directly against their advice.
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