Baltimore officer innocent in Freddie Gray case

In a court hearing on Monday, Judge Barry Williams found Edward Nero (pictured above, in plain clothes) not guilty of reckless endangerment and misconduct in office, charges that had been leveled against him when Gray died last year.

However, the 30-year-old police officer would still face a review by the Baltimore police department, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said.

"We will once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion. In the case of any disturbance in the city, we are prepared to respond. We will protect our neighborhoods, our businesses and the people of our city," she added.

Nero was among the six officers charged with the man's murder. The first trial - against William Porter - ended in a hung jury last December.

Nero is white, while Porter is black. Of the remaining four, two are black and two officers white.

Gray, 25 years old, was arrested last year by the city's police, allegedly without justification. The officers failed to secure him in a police van, where he suffered a fatal spinal injury. The man died on April 19, one week after he was taken into police custody.

Gray's death sparked severe rioting and protests in Baltimore, a majority black city, and fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.

mg/rc (Reuters, AP)