WATCH ABOVE: State Attorney Marilyn Mosby claims Freddie Gray arrested illegally and details his injuries
Six Baltimore police officers have now been charged in the death of Freddie Gray — the 25-year-old black man who’s died after sustaining a spinal cord injury in police custody and whose death furthered nationwide outrage over police use of excessive force against black men.
Almost as soon as State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said there was “probable cause to file criminal charges,” she announced Gray’s death has been ruled a homicide and the six officers involved in the April 12 arrest would face charges. Mosby also said there were no grounds to arrest Gray and that he was arrested illegally.
READ MORE: A timeline of Freddie Gray’s ‘illegal’ arrest
Gray died a week after the arrest.
“No one expected this,” Rev. Walter Scott, of Baltimore’s New Faith Baptist church, told CNN in the moments following Mosby announcing the charges.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a later press conference arrest warrants had been executed. The six officers are in custody and are set to be arraigned on Friday — including one officer on a charge of second-degree depraved heart murder.
Here’s a look at the officers who are facing charges.
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr.
The 45-year-old is facing the most serious of the charges including second-degree depraved heart murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, two charges of vehicular manslaughter and misconduct in office.
He was the driver of the police van when Gray was arrested. Goodson Jr. is a 16-year-veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, according to the Washington Post.
It was in the van Goodson was driving that Gray apparently sustained the injury that caused his death on April 19.
ABC News, citing a number of law enforcement sources and the findings of the medical examiner’s review of Gray’s death, reported his “catastrophic injury” occurred when he slammed into the back of the police van. According to the New York Times, there are suggestions the transportation of Gray may have been what’s dubbed a “rough ride” and that he may have been intentionally left in the back without being without being securely fastened with a seatbelt, although that claim had not been proven.
READ MORE: Freddie Gray died after head slammed into bolt in back of police van: report
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If Goodson Jr. goes to trial and is found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the charge of second-degree depraved heart murder. Three other charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years each.
Lt. Brian Rice
Rice, along with Edward Nero and Garret Miller, pursued Gray on April 12 after Gray made eye contact with the 41-year-old officer and ran.
Questions have been raised about Rice’s mental health. the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing records obtained through the court and the Carroll County sherrif’s department.
According to the AP report, deputies confiscated his official and personal guns after fellow police officer Karen McAleer — his former wife and the mother of his child — expressed her concerns. He was then hospitalized.
“Rice declined to speak with the AP or discuss allegations in a subsequent court filing that he had behaved in erratic or threatening ways toward the mother of his child or her then-husband,” AP reported.
READ MORE: Baltimore officer suspended in Freddie Gray’s death had mental health concerns
The Guardian reported Rice was put under a temporary restraining order after a man said, in 2013, he had a “fear of imminent harm or death from Brian Rice” stemming from a number of incidents involving Rice.
According to AP, the man who made the claims was Andrew McAleer — who was then married to Rice’s ex-wife.
Rice was placed on administrative leave after the Andrew McAleer’s complaint.
Rice, an 18-year veteran, is facing four charges including involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
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Officer Edward Nero and Officer Garrett Miller
Nero, 29, and Miller, 26, were on bike patrol with Rice when they encountered Gray and pursued him after he ran. After Gray surrendered to police, the two officers handcuffed Gray behind his back and moved him a few feet away.
They were the first officers whom Gray told he needed medical attention.
It was after that that Miller put Gray in a “leg lace” restraining hold and Nero held him down. Mosby said the two officers “failed to establish probable cause for Mr. Gray’s arrest as no crime had been committed.”
At no time did Nero or Miller secure Gray safely in the back of the van.
Nero and Miller — both with the Baltimore Police Department for three years — face similar charges: two counts of second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
Sgt. Alicia White
Thirty-year-old White has been with the Baltimore Police Department since 2010.
White was one of the three officers who saw Gray at that last stop.
According to Mosby, White had been tasked with investigating two public complaints about Gray’s arrest earlier that morning.
When she saw him unresponsive on the floor of the van, she spoke to the “back of Gray’s head,” Mosby said in her statement.
White will be arraigned of charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
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Officer William Porter
Porter, according to Mosby’s statement, heard Gray’s appeals for medical help when Goodson made a stop to check on “the status of his prisoner.”
Porter helped Gray off the floor of the van and sat him on the seat of the van, but neither secured him with a seatbelt nor called for medical assistance.
When the Goodson stopped to pick up a second man under arrest — despite Gray’s condition — Porter, White and Goodson all saw that Gray was unresponsive, Mosby said Friday morning.
The 25-year-old officer has been with the force for three years. He is also facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
With files from Andrew Russell and The Associated Press
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