Critics who have demanded that George Zimmerman be arrested for killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, waited another day yesterday as a special prosecutor said she would not take the case to a grand jury, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The move means that prosecutor Angela Corey will not charge Zimmerman with first-degree murder, which requires a grand jury indictment.
A manslaughter case would carry a maximum sentence of 30 years. Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said Trayvon’s parents remain “hopeful that a decision will be reached very soon to arrest George Zimmerman and give Trayvon Martin’s family the simple justice they have been seeking all along.” Zimmerman shot Martin on Feb. 26, telling police he acted in self-defense. He had called police, identifying Trayvon as suspicious, then got out of his SUV and followed him on foot.