A 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in Baltimore was lifted by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake when protests calmed after charges were filed against six police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray. Gray died last month after being injured in police custody. State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the charges on Friday.
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., 45, the driver of a police van that carried Gray through the streets of Baltimore, was charged with second-degree murder, assault, manslaughter, misconduct and other charges. Gray, 25, was chased down and arrested on April 12 and died a week later. His family has said he suffered a spinal cord injury and a crushed voice box.
Mosby acted after an autopsy determined Gray’s death was a homicide. A police investigation found that he suffered a serious head injury inside the van indicating that he struck a protruding bolt in the back of the vehicle. reports the Sun.
The charges: Six officers are each facing multiple charges.
— Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr.: Second-degree depraved heart murder, involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, manslaughter by vehicle, misconduct in office.
— Officer William G. Porter: Involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office.
— Lt. Brian W. Rice: Involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, false imprisonment.
— Officer Edward M. Nero: Second-degree assault, misconduct in office, false imprisonment.
— Officer Garrett Miller: Second-degree assault, misconduct in office, false imprisonment.
— Sgt. Alicia D. White: Manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office.
Warrants were issued for the officers’ arrests. Police acknowledged that officers violated protocol by not buckling in Gray and providing medical help when he asked for it. The van made several stops before arriving at a district police station, where Gray was found unresponsive and taken to the hospital. At one stop, the van picked up another prisoner, who was taken to the station on the other side of a metal partition.
The prisoner originally told police that Gray was thrashing about, but later recanted one part of his statement, in which he said that it sounded like he was trying to hurt himself.
“I heard a little banging like he was banging his head,” said Donta Allen, the second prisoner.
The police handed over the results of their investigation to the prosecutor’s office a day earlier than planned.
Mosby released a statement saying the results were not new to her. She said:
“We have been briefed regularly throughout their process while simultaneously conducting our own independent investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. While we have and will continue to leverage the information received by the Department, we are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified. We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system. “
Earlier Friday, a Fraternal Order of Police lodge asked Mosby to recuse herself from the case and appoint an independent special prosecutor.