Sanford Police Chief Steps Aside, Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee announced Thursday he is stepping down "temporarily" as head of the department, which has been criticized for its handling of the fatal shooting last month of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer.

"I am aware that my role as a leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation," he told reporters. "It is apparent that my involvement in this matter is overshadowing the process. Therefore, I have come to the decision that I must temporarily remove myself from the position."

He added, "I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to the city, which has been in turmoil for several weeks."

The gesture did not mollify Martin's parents. "I feel that we need an arrest," his mother, Sybrina Fulton, told supporters at a rally in Sanford, referring to George Zimmerman, the watch leader who has told police he shot Martin in self defense.

"The temporary step-down of Bill Lee is nothing," Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, told the rally. "We want an arrest, we want a conviction, and we want a sentence for the murder of our son."

The Rev. Al Sharpton was more strident: "We did not come here for a temporary leave of absence," he said. "We came for permanent justice -- arrest Zimmerman now!"

The president of the NAACP, Benjamin Jealous, said Lee failed to do his job. "The reality is that this chief had probable cause to lock up a man who shot a boy in cold blood -- because he shot a boy in cold blood -- and he failed to do that," Jealous said.

Lee's decision came a day after the city commission voted 3-2 in favor of a nonbinding measure of no confidence.

City Manager Norton Bonaparte said Thursday that he would like an independent review of police action in the wake of the shooting.

Also Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott announced that he was appointing Angela B. Corey of the 4th Judicial Circuit as state attorney in the investigation, replacing Norman Wolfinger, state attorney for Florida's 18th District, which includes Sanford. Wolfinger requested someone else be assigned, saying in a letter to Scott: "This request is being made in light of the public good with the intent of toning down the rhetoric and preserving the integrity of this investigation."

Corey told CNN affiliate WJXT: "I accepted his request immediately ... We will begin tomorrow to look into the facts and circumstances into the shooting death of Trayvan Martin."

Lee's decision came as Justice Department officials met Thursday with the parents of Martin, who was unarmed when he was shot and killed in an Orlando suburb.

"During the course of this meeting, we listened carefully to the concerns of the family and their representatives," the Justice Department said in a statement. "Earlier this week, the Department of Justice announced the opening of a parallel investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin. That matter remains open at this time."

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez told reporters in a conference call that the investigation is being carried out in coordination with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida.

"We're in the fact-gathering stage and we're working collaboratively with the state's attorney's office and the local authorities to figure out what happened," he said. "We don't know what the facts are yet. We're gathering the facts and as we gather the facts we will then determine whether or not the facts support a prosecution under the civil rights laws that we enforce."

The meeting was attended by the special agent in charge for the FBI Tampa Division, Steven E. Ibison; U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill; and Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division, Roy Austin, Jr.

The case has riveted the nation. Martin's family asserts that race was a factor in the black teenager's death.

Martin was shot February 26 while walking to the house of his father's fiancee after a trip to a convenience store.

Zimmerman has not been arrested. A police report describes him as white; his family says he is Hispanic and that he has wrongly been described as a racist.

The uproar over Martin's death has reverberated nationwide with demands for Zimmerman's arrest and scrutiny of police actions.

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