BALTIMORE – Jurors said they were deadlocked Tuesday as they weighed manslaughter and other charges against a police officer in the death of Freddie Gray. The judge told them to keep deliberating and they went home for the night without reaching a verdict.

The jury reported its failure to agree in a note to Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams after about nine hours of discussions over two days. It wasn’t clear if they were stuck on one or more of the four charges Officer William Porter faces. He is the first of six officers to stand trial.

William Porter, one of six Baltimore police officers charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray, arrives at a courthouse in Baltimore last month. The Associated Press

Armored vehicles and police were stationed around the city, and officials promised they were prepared for any unrest. Parts of the city burned last spring after Gray’s death triggered frustrations over the department’s alleged mistreatment of black people, and authorities were determined to prevent a repeat.

Earlier Tuesday, jurors requested highlighters, an easel and sticky notes, suggesting a businesslike approach to assessing Porter’s role in Gray’s arrest and death. They also received computer speakers to improve the sound quality of recordings in evidence, including Porter’s videotaped interview with Baltimore police detectives, police radio transmissions on the day Gray was arrested and cellphone videos made at two of the wagon’s six stops.

In all, the jury heard from more than two dozen witnesses and received about 100 pieces of evidence in the trial, which began Nov. 30. They even took a trip to see the police wagon where Gray had been left face-first on the floor, with his wrists tied behind his back and his ankles shackled.

Gray, who was arrested while fleeing from police, died April 19, a week after his neck was broken while the seven-block trip turned into a circuitous, 45-minute journey around West Baltimore. The autopsy concluded that Gray probably suffered the injury by being slammed against the metal container’s wall during cornering or braking.

A manslaughter conviction is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct are considered lesser charges.

The judge denied defense requests to declare a mistrial or try Porter outside of Baltimore. Porter’s lawyers sought to ask jurors if they’d seen a letter the city schools chief sent home with children Monday, warning against violent responses to a verdict.

The judge said asking jurors about the letter would not be appropriate. The jury has not been sequestered, but they have been warned not to read news articles about the case or talk about it with anyone other than fellow jurors.

Prosecutors concluded that Porter could have saved Gray’s life with two clicks: one to buckle him in with a seat belt and another to summon medical help with his police radio. Instead, they said Porter’s indifference makes him criminally responsible for Gray’s injury.

The defense characterized Porter as a conscientious officer who told supervisors to take Gray to the hospital, even though he testified that the detainee showed no signs of pain or distress before he arrived at the police station critically injured.

Prosecutors said this was a blatant lie.

“Freddie Gray went into the van healthy and he came out of the van dead,” prosecutor Janice Bledsoe said in her closing argument. The transport van “became his casket on wheels.”

Bledsoe showed jurors the unfastened seat belt: “It’s got Gray’s blood on it,” she said.

“Don’t fall for that,” defense attorney Joseph Murtha countered. Expert witnesses disagreed on exactly when Gray’s neck was broken during his trip, and this alone should give jurors reasonable doubt, he said.

Gray’s death was indeed a “horrific tragedy,” he said, but “there is literally no evidence” Porter is responsible.

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