Tuesday’s developments

Man died in hospital two days after being hurt while in police custody

U.S. Department of Justice will open its own investigation into the 25-year-old’s death

Baltimore police release names of six officers suspended while Freddie Gray’s death is investigated

Commissioner Batts tells suspended officers that facts, not emotion, will determine outcome of case

Protesters turn out for a third consecutive day of demonstrations

Death of prisoner in Aberdeen remains under investigation

The Aberdeen Police Department is investigating the death of a man who was injured while in police custody earlier this month, and who died two days later at Shock Trauma in Baltimore.

Aberdeen Police officers arrested Barry Lee Berkenkemper, 59, who lived in Belcamp, while he was walking along Route 40 during the afternoon of April 2. He was charged with public intoxication and failure to obey a lawful order, according to police.

Berkenkemper fell and hit his head while being taken to a detention cell in the police station, a spokesperson for the Police Department said at the time. He died at Shock Trauma on April 4. As the investigation continues into the circumstances of Berkenkemper’s death, the department is also conducting an internal investigation, spokesperson Cpl. Shannon Persuhn said. Persuhn stated in an email that a police report on the incident could not be released at this time, citing the ongoing investigation.

The state office of the chief medical examiner has not completed its own review of Berkenkemper’s death. Spokesperson Bruce Goldfarb said Tuesday a ruling on the cause and manner of the death is incomplete and he could not release any information.

Police said Berkenkemper’s last known address was in the 1200 block of Brass Mill Road in Belcamp, the address of the Welcome One Emergency Shelter, which is in the Riverside Business Park and is operated by the Faith Communities and Civic Agencies United, a local nonprofit.

The 31-bed emergency homeless shelter is open each night but closed during the day, Manager Susan Graper said.

Graper said she believes Berkenkemper stayed at the shelter during the week he was arrested, but she said information about residents is confidential and would not say how long he might have been a client.

The Harford County sheriff’s office, which operates the county detention center, has investigated 19 deaths at that facility since 1990, including one in 2011, two in 2012 and one in 2013, spokesperson Cristie Kahler said. There were no deaths in 2014 and none so far this year.

The 2011 death was a suspect in a string of robberies who died of a heart attack believed to have been brought on by drug withdrawal, the sheriff’s office said at the time. The other three who died were inmates who hanged themselves, Kahler said.

Kahler said the sheriff’s office is obligated to report deaths to state and federal authorities that occur while the person is in custody, not after they were released and died at a hospital, as two of the hanging victims did.

“In an effort to be completely transparent,” the sheriff’s office will include all deaths that stemmed from incidents at the jail, Kahler said.