BALTIMORE (CNN) — Prosecutors are dropping charges against the three remaining Baltimore police officers facing trial in connection with Freddie Gray’s death.
Gray, then 25, died after sustaining a neck injury while in police custody in April 2015. Three of the six officers charged in the case had already been acquitted.
A pretrial hearing for Officer Garrett Miller had been set for Wednesday. Trials for Officers Alicia White and William Porter had been scheduled for the fall.
Baltimore Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow made the request to drop charges against them in court Wednesday.
Three officers were acquitted in the case: Edward Nero, a bike officer involved in the initial police encounter with Gray; Caesar Goodson, who drove the van that transported Gray; and Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in connection with Gray’s death.
A retrial against Porter had been scheduled after a jury deadlocked in the case against him in December.
Gray’s death became a symbol of the black community’s mistrust of police and triggered days of protests and riots in Baltimore. The city became a focal point of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide debate on excessive police force.
Wednesday’s announcement comes more than a year after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the officers would be charged. Her statements drew praise from some who admired how swiftly she took on the case, and criticism from others who said there wasn’t enough evidence to convict the officers.
