Freddie Gray's Stepfather: 'We Are Not at All Upset...'

BALTIMORE, MD - The stepfather of Freddie Gray called for calm Wednesday after a judge declared a mistrial for the police officer charged in Gray’s death.

“We ask the public to remain calm and patient because we are confident there will be another trial with a different jury,” Richard Shipley, the stepfather of 25-year-old Gray, told WJZ. “If we are calm, you should be calm too.”

Prosecutors said Gray died in April as the result of a spinal injury in the back of a police van, alleging Officer William Porter could have prevented his death by seat-belting him or calling for medical help.

Porter, 26, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Porter is the first of six officers to stand trial in connection with Gray’s death.

The jury was instructed to come to unanimous agreement on each individual charge against Porter.

When jurors told the judge Wednesday that they could not agree on a verdict, he declared a mistrial.

“We want to thank this hard-working jury for their service to the public, their quest for justice and their personal sacrifice of time and effort. We are not at all upset with them,” Shipley said on behalf of the Gray family. “They did they best they could.”

• Jury Hung on Officer’s Role in Freddie Gray’s Death
• Baltimore Mayor Calls for ‘Unified City’ After Mistrial
• Gray Family to Receive $6.4M Wrongful Death Settlement

Judge Barry Williams, who presided over the trial and is assigned to the trials for the five other officers charged in Gray’s death, will meet with attorneys in his chambers to determine how to proceed.

In the meantime, the Gray family’s lawyer said Gray’s relatives would wait as the judicial process continues.

“They don’t want a guilty or a not guilty—they want a just verdict,” said attorney Billy Murphy, who represents the family, but was not involved this case, which the state’s attorney prosecuted.

“They want a verdict of some kind, and so they’re willing to wait for the retrial that we understand will happen on a date to be scheduled tomorrow,” Murphy said Wednesday night in an interview with WJZ. “...this is the way that disputes should be decided—not in the streets, not emotionally, not without a knowledge of all of the evidence that was presented...”

Murphy clarified that justice was not synonymous with one verdict or another.

“This is a time to remain calm and reasonable. It’s not a time to wish for a predetermined result; that’s not justice,” Murphy said. “[The case] ought to be decided on the evidence, and nothing else.”

It has not been determined whether the mistrial will impact proceedings for the five other officers charged.