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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. • The neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Wednesday after months of mounting tensions and protests across the country.
George Zimmerman, 28, could get up to life in prison if convicted in the slaying of the unarmed black teenager.
Special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charges but would not discuss how she arrived at them or disclose other details of her investigation, saying: "That's why we try cases in court."
Second-degree murder is typically brought in cases when there is a fight or other confrontation that results in death but does involve a premeditated plan to kill.
Corey would not disclose Zimmerman's whereabouts for his safety but said that he will be in court within 24 hours.
Zimmerman's new attorney, Mark O'Mara, said: "I'm expecting a lot of work and hopefully justice in the end."
Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, has asserted since the Feb. 26 killing in Sanford that he shot in self-defense after the teenager attacked him. Martin's family argued Zimmerman was the aggressor.
The shooting brought demands from black leaders for his arrest and set off a furious nationwide debate over race and self-defense that reached all the way to the White House.
Corey said the decision to bring charges was based on the facts and the law, declaring: "We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition."
One of the biggest hurdles to Zimmerman's arrest over the past month was Florida's "stand your ground" law, which gives people wide leeway to use deadly force without having to retreat in the face of danger. The lack of an arrest had sparked outrage and rallies for justice in the Orlando suburb and across the country.
On Tuesday, Zimmerman's lawyers announced they were withdrawing from the case because they hadn't heard from him since Sunday and didn't know where he was. They portrayed his mental state as fragile.
"He is largely alone. You might even say he is emotionally crippled by virtue of the pressure of this case," said one of the lawyers, Hal Uhrig.
The case has drawn the interest of the highest levels of the Obama administration, with the Justice Department's civil rights division opening its own investigation.
Tensions have risen in recent days in Sanford. Someone shot up an unoccupied police car Tuesday as it sat outside the neighborhood where Martin was killed. And a demonstration by college students closed the town's police station Monday.
Six weeks ago, Martin was returning to the home of his father's fiancee from a convenience store when Zimmerman started following him. Zimmerman told police dispatchers he looked suspicious. At some point, the two got into a fight and Zimmerman used his gun.
Zimmerman told police Martin attacked him after he had given up chasing the teenager and was returning to his truck. He told detectives that Martin knocked him to the ground and began slamming his head on the sidewalk. Zimmerman's father said that Martin threatened to kill his son and that Zimmerman suffered a broken nose.
A video taken about 40 minutes after the shooting as Zimmerman arrived at the Sanford police station showed him walking unassisted without difficulty. There were no plainly visible bandages or blood on his clothing, but Zimmerman may have had a small wound on the back of his head.
The shooting ignited resentment toward the police department, and Police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped down to let passions cool.
Civil rights groups and others have held rallies around the country, saying the shooting was unjustified. Many of the protesters wore the same type of hooded sweat shirt that Martin had on that day, suggesting his appearance and race had something to do with his killing.
President Barack Obama injected himself into the debate, urging Americans to "do some soul-searching." ''If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said March 23.
The local prosecutor disqualified himself from the case, and Gov. Rick Scott appointed Corey, the prosecutor for Jacksonville, to take it over. 
Defense attorney: Zimmerman will plead not guilty
Orlando, Fla. • The attorney for neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman says his client will plead not guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.
Attorney Mark O'Mara asks that people not jump to conclusions about his client's guilt. He says he hopes "the community will calm down" now that charges have been filed.
Zimmerman has acknowledged shooting Martin but says it was in self-defense after the two got into a fight on Feb. 26.
The Associated Press
2012 mugshot of George Zimmerman. Cellphone call to the Sanford Police Department by George Zimmerman before the shooting of Trayvon Martin

, the Florida neighborhood watch captain who shot  teenager  in February, stepped into court for his first appearance Thursday afternoon after his arrest the previous night. The judge found probable cause in the charges of second degree , but Zimmerman's lawyer held off on making a bail request out of concern for his clients safety.

At a Wednesday evening news conference in Jacksonville, Florida, special prosecutor  announced Zimmerman willingly turned himself in. A law enforcement official said at the time Zimmerman was in custody at the  in Florida. Corey said, "It is the search for justice for Trayvon that has brought us to this moment."

Zimmerman, 28, was involved in an altercation with the 17-year-old  that led to Martin’s death the night of February 26 in , Florida. Zimmerman claimed self-defense when he shot Martin. Martin was in a gated community returning to the house he and his father were staying at carrying a pack of candy and iced tea when Zimmerman followed him and called the police to report a "suspicious" character. Since then, black leaders have demanded justice for a murder that they believe to be driven by race.

Zimmerman’s arrest and charge occurred after his lawyers announced Tuesday they were quitting the case after having no contact with him since Sunday. They also said Zimmerman was in a fragile mental state. 

In Florida, a person charged with second-degree murder can spend life in prison, and the charge is usually when a confrontation ends with the death one of the parties involved. Florida also has a , which means people can use deadly force in cases of self-defense, which is expected to play a major role in the case. In the United States, 24 states, including Florida, have such a law while the other 27 states do not. The  pushed for the law's passage in Florida seven years ago.

Trayvon Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, have been publicly calling for Zimmerman to be prosecuted. They appeared at a press conference after the special prosecutor's announcement with Reverend  in Washington, D.C. Fulton said, "We simply wanted an arrest. We wanted nothing more and nothing less, we just wanted an arrest. And we got it."

Zimmerman's lawyer Mark O’Mara has already signaled that his client will plead not guilty at a future hearing which the judge set for May 29, but he also expects to request bail for his client once safety details are worked out.
Time of important events throughout the Trayvon Martin case. 


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