George Zimmerman, the man accused and then acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, in 2012, is now suing Martin's family, prosecutors and others involved in the case for $100 million.
Zimmerman has remained steadfast that he was defending himself the night he shot and killed Martin, 17. Working as a neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community at the time, Zimmerman's trial and then acquittal launched a national outrage and a movement called Black Lives Matter.
Larry Klayman, a former federal prosecutor, is working as Zimmerman's attorney in his lawsuit. He alleges that a witness in the 2013 trial, Rachel Jeantel, was an "imposter and fake witness."
Jeantel also uses the name Diamond Eugene. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Eugene told the court she signed her name "Diamond Eugene" in a letter she wrote to Martin's mother about the shooting.
The suit also alleges that two weeks following the trial, Jeantel, 18-years-old at the time, was not Martin's girlfriend, and provided "false statements to incriminate Zimmerman based on coaching from others."
According to the lawsuit: "Defendant Jeantel lied repeatedly about having a relationship with Trayvon, about being on the phone with Trayvon in the days and minutes up to his death, and lied about everything she claimed to have heard over the phone in the hours and minutes prior to Trayvon’s death. Defendant Jeantel also lied about her identity, falsely claiming her nickname to be 'Diamond Eugene.’
A lawyer who represented the Martin family, Ben Crump, is also listed as a defendant. He issued a statement that said in part: “I have every confidence that this unfounded and reckless lawsuit will be revealed for what it is – another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others.”