Six Baltimore police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray have been all indicted by a grand jury.
On May 21, State Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby announced the revised charges, but the most serious charges – including second-degree murder – remained.
Freddie Gray suffered a severe spinal cord injury in police custody in April and died a week later.
The black man’s death sparked weeks of protests and later riots and looting in Baltimore.
Marilyn Mosby said: “As is often the case, during an ongoing investigation, charges can and should be revised based upon the evidence.”
The grand jury did not return charges on the false imprisonment charges that were brought against some of the officers.
Marilyn Mosby brought the false imprisonment charges earlier claiming that Freddie Gray’s arrest was unjustified and illegal.
However, the grand jury did return new reckless endangerment charges that were not part of the original charges announced three weeks ago.
Marilyn Mosby has said that Freddie Gray’s neck was broken while he was being handcuffed and placed into a police van. She also said that police repeatedly ignored his pleas for medical attention.
The officers are scheduled to appear in court on July 2.
A lawyer for the six Baltimore police officers said they “did nothing wrong”, after criminal charges were announced by Marilyn Mosby earlier this month.
Lawyer Michael Davey said the officers “at all times acted reasonably and in accordance with their training” and accused Marilyn Mosby of an “egregious rush to judgement”.
He also said that the defense team had “grave concerns about the fairness and integrity of the prosecution of our officers”.
Marilyn Mosby rejected a police union request to step aside and appoint a special prosecutor to handle the case.
The grand jury’s decision to bring charges largely similar to Marilyn Mosby’s may quiet calls for her to step aside.
Freddie Gray’s death is the latest in a string of high-profile cases in the US where unarmed black men have died after contact with the police.
After Freddie Gray’s funeral, riots broke out in sections of West Baltimore, prompting city and state officials to deploy thousands of extra law enforcement officers and National Guard troops to keep the peace and enact a citywide curfew.
Baltimore police officers charges:
Officer Caesar Goodson: 2nd-degree depraved heart murder, involuntary manslaughter, 2nd degree negligent assault, manslaughter by vehicle by means of gross negligence, manslaughter by vehicle by means of criminal negligence, misconduct in office for failure to secure prisoner and failure to render aid, reckless endangerment
Officer William Porter: Involuntary manslaughter, assault in the 2nd degree, misconduct in office, reckless endangerment
Lieutenant Brian Rice: Involuntary manslaughter, assault in the 2nd degree, assault in the 2nd degree [second of two similar charges], misconduct in office, reckless endangerment
Officer Edward Nero: Assault in the 2nd degree (intentional), assault in the 2nd degree (negligent), misconduct in office, reckless endangerment
According to local TV station ABC7 News, Freddie Gray died from a head injury in a Baltimore police van.
Citing police sources, ABC7 News said that an injury to Freddie Gray’s head matched the shape of a bolt in the van.
Freddie Gray suffered a fatal spine injury while in police custody, sparking two weeks of protests in Baltimore which turned violent earlier this week.
His death is the latest in a series of police killings in the US which have sparked rioting and national debate.
Baltimore police have admitted that Freddie Gray was not secured in the van by a seatbelt, against department policy, and that he requested medical attention while being transported in the van but was denied.
A footage filmed by a passerby showed a visibly distressed Freddie Gray being handcuffed on the ground pushed into the back of the van. Police said he ran after seeing two officers, who chased him and arrested him when they found a switchblade-style knife in his trousers.
Freddie Gray lapsed into a coma following the journey on April 12 and died a week later.
Maryland medical examiner’s office has refused to comment on cause of death while the investigation is ongoing.
The van transporting Freddie Gray made a previously undisclosed fourth stop while en route to the police station, police revealed on April 30.
Previously, police had said the van made three stops, including one to put Freddie Gray in leg irons and another to pick up different prisoner.
The fourth stop was captured on a CCTV camera outside a Korean food shop.
A Baltimore Police inquiry has found that the van transporting Freddie Gray made a previously undisclosed stop while en route to the police station.
Freddie Gray suffered fatal and unexplained spinal injuries while in police custody, sparking two weeks of protests that turned violent earlier this week.
On April 30, there were rallies in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.
A national debate over the use of lethal police force has been going on since the death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer.
Police investigating Freddie Gray’s death said they found out about the new van stop from a security camera.
Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said: “We discovered this new stop based on our thorough and comprehensive and on-going review of all CCTV cameras and privately owned cameras.”
“This new stop was discovered from a privately-owned camera.”
The new video was filmed by a CCTV camera outside a small Korean food shop.
The shop’s owner, Jung Hyun Hwang told the Associated Press news agency that police officers visited last week to make a copy of the recording – which was later lost when the shop was looted during the riots.
Jung Hyun Hwang said he had not viewed the recording and did not know what it showed.
Investigators have now handed over their inquiry into Freddie Gray’s death to the state’s attorney’s office.
Baltimore’s top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, will now decide whether to take the case to a grand jury to seek an indictment of any of the six officers involved.
After two nights of violent protests in Baltimore, Thursday was relatively calm. Baltimore is still under a curfew requiring people to be off the streets by 22:00.
Visiting Baltimore, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said the city was “not out of the woods yet”.
“There are a lot of people that have legitimate frustrations that are peacefully protesting and we want to protect those people and their right to express their feelings,” he said.
“But we’re also concerned about their safety because there are other people who just want to cause trouble.”
Freddie Gray was injured when arrested in Sandtown on April 12. He lapsed into a coma and died a week later.
Mobile phone video from a bystander shows two officers dragging Freddie Gray into the van by the arms.
According to the police timeline of the arrest, the van took 30 minutes to take him to the police station, where paramedics were called.
While in the van, Freddie Gray was requesting medical attention which he was wrongly denied, police have admitted.
They also acknowledged that Freddie Gray was not secured in the van by a seatbelt, which contravenes department policy.
A local ABC station, quoting unnamed sources, said the medical examiner has concluded that Freddie Gray received his injuries inside the van, not when he was first arrested.
Previously, police had said the van made three stops, including one to put him in leg irons and another to pick up another prisoner. The new stop makes four in total.
Five of the six officers involved in the arrest gave statements to investigators the day Freddie Gray was injured. All six have been suspended.
A separate investigation by the US Department of Justice is also under way.
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