BALTIMORE, Md. (AP) - Prosecutors have dropped the remaining charges against Baltimore police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, bringing an end to the case without a conviction.
Gray was a black man who was critically injured in the back of a police van in April 2015.
Prosecutors' decision Wednesday comes after a judge had already acquitted three of the six officers charged in the case, including the van driver and another officer who was the highest-ranking of the group.
A fourth officer had his case heard by a jury, who deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors had said Gray was illegally arrested after he ran away from a bike patrol officer and the officers failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt or call a medic when he indicated he wanted to go to a hospital.
The death added fuel to the growing Black Lives Matter movement and caused turmoil in Baltimore, including large protests and the worst riots the city had seen in decades.
NAACP Disappointed
The head of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP says she is disappointed by prosecutors' decision to drop the charges in the case of Gray case.
Tessa Hill-Aston said Wednesday that she thinks the state's attorney's office did a "remarkable job." She says she wanted the remaining officers to continue going through the legal process, but that she understands the decision.
As a result of the prosecution, she says there were police reforms, including a policy that all officers have body-worn cameras.
Family Stands by Prosecutors
The mother of Freddie Gray is blaming police for her son's death and accusing officers of lying to investigators.
Gloria Darden spoke Wednesday after prosecutors said they were dropping the charges against the officers awaiting trial in her son's death. Darden says police "lied, I know they lied, and they killed him."
In a fiery defense of her case, prosecutor Marilyn Mosby blamed police for an investigation that failed to hold anyone accountable for the death of Gray, a young black man. Gray's neck was snapped in the back of a police van, and he died a week after his injury.
Mosby says she stands by the finding that Gray's death was a homicide, saying "we do not believe that Freddie Gray killed himself."
She declined to take questions, citing a lawsuit the officers have filed against her.
The father of Freddie Gray says the family stands by the Baltimore prosecutor who led the case against six officers charged in his son's death.
Richard Shipley said during a news conference Wednesday that the family "is proud to have her represent us." The prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, announced earlier in the day that she was dropping charges against the remaining officers awaiting trial in the case.
Attorneys for the officers planned a news conference for later Wednesday.
