Trayvon Martin case: Charges expected --- and a plea for peace

Neighborhood Watch captain George Zimmerman will be charged in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, law enforcement sources were reporting Wednesday.

The Washington Post and the Associated Press were among the media outlets reporting the developments, although it was not immediately clear what charges Zimmerman would face. The special prosecutor assigned to the case is expected to hold a news conference in Florida later this afternoon.

Martin‘s parents and their attorney are pleading, even begging, for a peaceful reaction as the nation waits to hear whether charges will be filed against Zimmerman, who has admitted shooting and killing Martin -- but insists it was only in self-defense.

Attorney Benjamin Crump, flanked by Martin’s parents, asked for the public’s reaction to any pending development in the case to be “peaceful and responsible” and said he was begging that “nothing gets out of hand.” He also pleaded with the public to use the grieving parents as their example.

“They are such a good example of keeping your composure,” he said, adding that despite all the outrage surrounding the case, no one can be in more pain than the parents who lost a child. “If they can continue to carry themselves in a dignified manner, we all should.”

Crump’s comments were made in Washington D.C., at the 14th annual National Action Network, a civil rights conference organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton. Martin’s parents are scheduled to address the conference Wednesday afternoon.

Martin, 17, was killed Feb. 26 as he was walking through a gated community in Sanford, Fla. Since then, civil-rights activists have been demanding Zimmerman’s arrest.

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