Photo: Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
A judge in Florida dismissed a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit George Zimmerman filed against the parents of Trayvon Martin, the Black 17-year-old he fatally shot in the state nearly 10 years ago, per AP.
Driving the news: The former neighborhood watch volunteer alleged in the lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages that Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, and their book publishers HarperCollins, smeared him as a racist.
- But Judge John Cooper in Tallahassee said in his ruling rejecting all of Zimmerman's counts, "There can be no claim for conspiracy to defraud if there is no adequately stated claim for fraud," local outlets report.
The big picture: Zimmerman was in 2013 acquitted of homicide charges over Martin's Feb. 26, 2012 killing.
- The high-profile criminal case inspired the Black Lives Matter movement in which Martin's parents have been leading voices.
- Attorney Ben Crump, who had represented the family, Brittany Diamond Eugene and Rachel Jeantel were also named in Zimmerman's tossed suit.