Baltimore detectives probing the death of a US black man who died from injuries sustained in police custody have handed their investigation over to prosecutors, officials said today.
Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts told reporters that a team of investigators had carried out an urgent examination of events surrounding the April 12 arrest of Freddie Gray and his death a week later.
"I understand the frustration, I understand the sense of urgency, and so has the organization and that is why we have finished (the probe) a day ahead of time," Batts said.
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"The state's attorney is committed to seeing justice. And from this point on, we will take all directions from the state attorney, because it is now their case."
The development means it is now up to prosecutors to decide who -- if anyone -- will be charged in connection to Gray's death.
Gray, 25, died of spinal injuries apparently suffered during his arrest or soon after. His death sparked riots in Baltimore and protests in cities on the US East Coast, including New York, Washington and Boston.
Gray died with 80 percent of his spine severed at the neck, lawyers for his family say, portraying him as just the latest young African American to die at the hands of the police.
In August, a white policeman shot dead a black teenager in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson, triggering demonstrations in major US cities from Los Angeles to New York that were repeated when a grand jury declined to indict the officer.
Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said the investigation into Gray's death had revealed some new findings, including that the police wagon he was traveling in had made an additional stop, though he did not elaborate on the significance of this.
