Freddie Gray and What Baltimore State's Attorney Says Happened to Him

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby filed criminal charges against all six officers.

ByABC News
May 1, 2015, 8:42 PM

— -- The six police officers who interacted with Freddie Gray on the day that he was taken into custody and suffered a spinal injury are all facing multiple criminal charges and they are now in police custody.

Officers Caesar Goodson, Jr. (top left), William Porter (top center), Edward Nero (bottom left) and Garrett Miller (bottom center), Lt. Brian Rice (top right), and Sgt. Alicia Miller (bottom right) were charged in Gray's death. The charges vary for each individual, but include several counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment, among others. The most serious charge listed was second-degree depraved heart murder, which only Goodson faces. All were released this evening after posting bond.

Michael Davey, the attorney hired by one of the officers, spoke on behalf of all six, saying “these officers will be vindicated because they have done nothing wrong.”

“No officer injured Mr. Gray, caused harm to Mr. Gray, and [they] are truly saddened by his death,” Davey said during a news conference this afternoon with the police union.

The Baltimore Police Department handed over the investigation into Gray's arrest and death one week later to the State’s Attorney’s Office, headed by Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for Baltimore.

Mosby announced the findings of her office's independent investigation and detailed what happened at each of the four stops that the police wagon made while Gray was in the back before going to the police station.

Here is the account that Mosby announced at a news conference this morning.

Police Arrest Gray on False Grounds

Mosby said police found Gray was carrying a knife, and the state’s attorney investigation determined that though the blade did fold, it was not a switchblade, meaning the knife he had was legal under Baltimore law. Mosby said today officers “failed to establish probable cause” and “illegally arrested” Gray as a result.

She then detailed how officers handcuffed Gray’s arms behind his back.

“It was at this time that he notified that he could not breathe and requested an inhaler, to no avail,” she said. Gray “began to flail his legs and scream” and officers put him in a tactical hold called a “leg lace” before putting him in the back of the police wagon.

First Stop With Gray in the Vehicle

After traveling one block from the original point where police picked up Gray, they stopped at Mount and Baker streets and took him out of the back of the vehicle.

Mosby said officers put flex cuffs on his wrists and leg cuffs on his legs before loading him “on his stomach head first into the wagon.”

They did not secure him with a seat belt, she said, which is “contrary to a [Baltimore Police Department] order.”

Officer Sees Gray’s Injury but Does Not Treat It

The police department confirmed the wagon then made a previously unknown stop. After leaving Mount and Baker streets, they went to North Fremont Avenue and Mosher Street, and officer Caesar Goodson got out of the front of the vehicle to go back and check on Gray.

“Despite stopping for the purpose of checking on Mr. Gray's condition, at no point did he seek nor did he render any medical assistance for Mr. Gray,” Mosby said.

Police only learned of this stop after reviewing privately owned surveillance footage and they would not comment on what happened at this stop when they announced it Thursday.

PHOTO: Freddie Grey, pictured in this undated photo, died Sunday, one week after he was arrested in Baltimore.
Freddie Grey, pictured in this undated photo, died Sunday, one week after he was arrested in Baltimore.

Calls for Backup at Third Stop

“Several blocks later, officer Goodson called into dispatch that he needed to check on the status of his prisoner and requested additional units at Dolphin Street and Druid Hill Avenue,” she said.

Officer William Porter then met Goodson at this intersection and spoke with Gray, asking the 25-year-old whether he needed a medic. Mosby said Gray indicated at least twice that he needed a medic but the officers decided to take him out of the van, place him on a bench before Porter left to respond to a different arrest and Gray was put back in the vehicle, again without a seatbelt.

“Despite Mr. Gray's obvious and recognized need for medical assistance, Officer Goodson in a grossly negligent manner chose to respond to the 1600 block of West North Avenue with Mr. Gray still unsecured by a seat belt in the wagon without rendering to or summoning medical assistance from Mr. Gray,” Mosby said.

Responding to Another Call, With Gray Unsecured

The wagon then went to pick up another individual arrested on North and Pennsylvania avenues, at which point five officers, including Porter, were present and saw that Gray was unresponsive in the back of the wagon.

“Sergeant [Alicia] White, who was [later] responsible for investigating two citizen complaints pertaining to Mr. Gray's illegal arrest, spoke to the back of Mr. Gray's head,” Mosby said. “When he did not respond, she did nothing further despite the fact that she was advised that he needed a medic. She made no effort to look or assess or determine his condition.”

“Despite Mr. Gray's seriously deteriorating medical condition, no medical assistance was rendered or summoned for Mr. Gray at that time by any officer,” Mosby said.

Gray Is No Longer Breathing When He Arrives at Police Station

It was only after the wagon arrived at Western District Police Station and after the second man who had been arrested at North and Pennsylvania avenues was unloaded was a medic called to assess Gray, who was “no longer breathing at all,” Mosby said.

The medic, whose name was not disclosed, “determined that Mr. Gray was now in cardiac arrest and was critically and severely injured,” Mosby said. Gray was then transported to the University of Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center for treatment, where he went into a coma several days later and died a week after his false arrest.

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