Dakota Valkyrie
July 9th, 2008, 02:48 PM
Suspect in Maryland Officer's Death Was Strangled
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063001156.html
http://i37.tinypic.com/ao6q1d.jpg
A 19-year-old man suspected of killing a police officer was strangled in the county jail two days after his arrest. Ronnie L. White, who was found unresponsive Sunday morning, died of asphyxiation, and two small bones in his neck were broken, according to preliminary autopsy findings.
A guard checked on him about 20 minutes before he was found on the floor of his cell with no detectable pulse. Jail and hospital officials said that White's body had no visible signs of trauma and that they could not rule out the possibility that he committed suicide.
He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. White was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and had blankets and sheets in his cell. No cloth or rope was allowed in White's cell.
The death will likely fuel tensions between the county’s black majority and primarily white police force, local civil-rights leaders fear.
The news that White was killed drew immediate condemnation from civil rights advocates. The FBI began a civil rights probe, and Maryland State Police took over the investigation of White's death at the request of county officials.
Although White's relatives declined to comment, his aunt said before the results of the autopsy were known that the family was convinced of foul play. "They either injected his food or his -- I don't know what," she said.
White, charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Cpl. Richard S. Findley. According to police charging documents, White "intentionally accelerated" a large pickup truck with stolen license plates toward the officer, striking and dragging him in a parking lot in Laurel on Friday morning. Findley, 39, died later at a hospital.
White, who was 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, was considered a high-profile inmate because his alleged crime involved a law enforcement official and was being kept in solitary confinement. Only seven guards and an undisclosed number of supervisors had access to the area where White was held.
Under standard protocol, White was to have been moved to another county's jail. He remained in Prince George's over the weekend because he was not taken to the jail until early Saturday.
Video: White Family Urges Thorough Investigation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/07/01/VI2008070101027.html?sid=ST2008063001413
More on the offense and suspect's record (pretty heavy for a 19yr old)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063002394.html?sid=ST2008063001413
I don't understand why race has to do with anything here. If it was a vigilante police officer, the color of the perp would not have mattered - the suspect would be dead.
It really doesn't bother me that he's dead. I'm hoping that he did it to himself but it doesn't look that way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063001156.html
http://i37.tinypic.com/ao6q1d.jpg
A 19-year-old man suspected of killing a police officer was strangled in the county jail two days after his arrest. Ronnie L. White, who was found unresponsive Sunday morning, died of asphyxiation, and two small bones in his neck were broken, according to preliminary autopsy findings.
A guard checked on him about 20 minutes before he was found on the floor of his cell with no detectable pulse. Jail and hospital officials said that White's body had no visible signs of trauma and that they could not rule out the possibility that he committed suicide.
He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. White was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and had blankets and sheets in his cell. No cloth or rope was allowed in White's cell.
The death will likely fuel tensions between the county’s black majority and primarily white police force, local civil-rights leaders fear.
The news that White was killed drew immediate condemnation from civil rights advocates. The FBI began a civil rights probe, and Maryland State Police took over the investigation of White's death at the request of county officials.
Although White's relatives declined to comment, his aunt said before the results of the autopsy were known that the family was convinced of foul play. "They either injected his food or his -- I don't know what," she said.
White, charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Cpl. Richard S. Findley. According to police charging documents, White "intentionally accelerated" a large pickup truck with stolen license plates toward the officer, striking and dragging him in a parking lot in Laurel on Friday morning. Findley, 39, died later at a hospital.
White, who was 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, was considered a high-profile inmate because his alleged crime involved a law enforcement official and was being kept in solitary confinement. Only seven guards and an undisclosed number of supervisors had access to the area where White was held.
Under standard protocol, White was to have been moved to another county's jail. He remained in Prince George's over the weekend because he was not taken to the jail until early Saturday.
Video: White Family Urges Thorough Investigation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/07/01/VI2008070101027.html?sid=ST2008063001413
More on the offense and suspect's record (pretty heavy for a 19yr old)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/30/AR2008063002394.html?sid=ST2008063001413
I don't understand why race has to do with anything here. If it was a vigilante police officer, the color of the perp would not have mattered - the suspect would be dead.
It really doesn't bother me that he's dead. I'm hoping that he did it to himself but it doesn't look that way.