The funeral of 19-year-old Ronnie L. White, a murder suspect killed while in custody, was attended Thursday by more than 300 mourners.
White had been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly striking county police Cpl. Richard S. Findley in a stolen pick-up truck on June 27. White was found June 29 strangled in his county jail cell, where he was in solitary confinement. White, a North Laurel resident, had a history of arrests for robbery, vehicle theft and other charges starting when he was 14.
State Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 4) of Bowie visited before the funeral service to extend his sympathies to White's family. Peters said he attended the funeral at the request of the church's pastor, G. Randolph Gurley. County Councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Dist. 9) of Clinton attended the funeral.
‘‘Not only are there two families suffering today, but it has left a gaping wound in our community,” Gurley said at the funeral service.
Outrage was evident among the mourners, many of them teens who came wearing T-shirts with photos of White. Many rushed outside, crying after seeing his body in the open casket.
‘‘He didn't deserve it!” one girl screamed. ‘‘He didn't!”
While most of the memorial shirts said ‘‘R.I.P.” or ‘‘In Loving Memory,” several mourners wore shirts with White's photo that read ‘‘Born 10⁄16⁄1988 - Hated On 6⁄29⁄2008.”
Gurley decried the killing of White but also called on youths to re-examine their lives.
‘‘We all know someone took his life, but it goes beyond that,” he said. ‘‘How many played a part in his life leading up that fateful day?”
Gurley said the service was the sixth in recent memory for a teen killed in relation to crime and drugs.
‘‘I tell you today, we're tired of burying you, of seeing your loved ones suffer,” he told mourners. ‘‘You can wear a T-Shirt with his picture on it, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But ask yourself, how long will it be until your picture is on a T-shirt?”
White's death is currently under investigation by the state police and FBI and has been denounced by County Executive Jack B. Johnson and other leaders.
A Maryland State Police spokesman said Thursday that the investigation into White's death is continuing. Interviews were being conducted with several guards who were working near White's locked cell during his incarceration. No one has been charged, and the corrections officers are still on duty.
Family members declined to speak to the media at White's service. After the funeral, White's aunt, Lavayia White, thanked attendees.
‘‘We as a family truly miss him,” she said. ‘‘I just continue to focus and remember the good times we had.”
E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.
