Fibers found on the neck of accused police killer Ronnie White, who officials have said was strangled in his cell last month, match the material in the bedsheet that once covered the bunk in his solitary Prince George’s County jail cell, a source close to the investigation confirmed Thursday.
White, 19, was arrested less than 48 hours before his death for allegedly running down police Cpl. Richard Findley with a stolen truck.
Earlier this month, a medical examiner visited the cell to collect evidence, and although the fibers on White’s neck may help show that the bedsheet was used in his demise, they don’t clear up what has become a looming question: Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?
On June 30, the day after White was found dead, slumped against his bunk, County Executive Jack Johnson said a preliminary medical examiner’s report showed that White had been strangled and the medical examiner had ruled his death a homicide.
Sources, who do not want to be identified because they’re not cleared to speak publicly about the investigation, have said White died of asphyxiation and had two broken bones in his neck.
Since Johnson’s announcement, however, some of the jail guards, who have been the focus of federal and state investigators, have claimed White committed suicide. The attorney for the guards union, Clothilda Harvey, stuck by that idea Thursday when she was presented with the bedsheet fibers on White’s neck.
“If they found fibers on his neck, that would reinforce my theory; it’s indicative of a hanging,” Harvey said, noting that she couldn’t confirm any details of the case because it remains under investigation.
On the day of White’s death, corrections officials said there was no sign of damage to White’s body.
But Bobby Henry Jr., the attorney representing White’s family, said his belief that White was murdered has not changed.
“The idea that this was suicide is just speculation,” Henry said.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey’s spokesman, Roman Korionoff, said prosecutors “continue to work closely with the investigation and are awaiting the final medical examiner’s report,” which could take as long as 60 days from White’s death.
Meanwhile, an independent review of the jail kicked off Monday after Johnson asked the American Correctional Association to take a close look at jail procedures. The review, and White’s death, come after months of reports illuminating problems in the jail, including corrections officers turning tricks with inmates and cell phones being distributed by guards to alleged gang members.
