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Prince George's County's top prosecutor said last week that he has not sought an indictment against two jail guards under investigation in the death of a 19-year-old inmate last year at the county jail.

"I'm not asking for one," State's Attorney Glenn Ivey said last week about the death of Ronnie White, whose body was found in his solitary cell last June. "If I get something new that I think would add to [the case], I would."

Ivey's statement came after County Councilman Samuel L. Dean (D-Dist. 6) of Mitchellville asked about the status of the high-profile case that grabbed national headlines last July.

"There's been a deathly silence around Ronnie White," Dean told Ivey during a review May 12 of the prosecutor's budget.

White, a Laurel resident, had been arrested June 28 on murder charges in the killing of county police Sgt. Richard Findley, who was run over and killed by a stolen truck allegedly driven by the teen. White was found dead in his cell around 10:30 a.m. June 29, about 24 hours after he was taken into custody. A state medical examiner ruled that his injuries, including a broken neck bone, were consistent with homicide by strangulation.

Corrections officers allegedly told investigators that White hanged himself in the cell that morning. Because of conflicts of interest, the case was given to the Maryland state police to investigate. Federal officials are also monitoring progress in the investigation.

Evidence problems have raised questions about the case. The sheet White allegedly used to hang himself disappeared in the days after White's death but was later produced. A camera taken into the cell when doctors responded allegedly malfunctioned, leaving no record of the response by guards.

At the time, security cameras at the county jail were set up to monitor activity, not to record. White was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes.

Two guards have been the focus of the investigation since last summer, according to county officials. A grand jury convened late last year was dismissed after its term expired without issuing an indictment, prompting a protest from a small group of county residents.

"The citizens of Prince George's County are not safe," said Jerry McLaurin of Fort Washington, who led a resident protest after the first grand jury expired in December. "If we have a state's attorney who cannot get an indictment in a case where a medical examiner has ruled it a homicide, then we've got the wrong state's attorney."

Ivey was hesitant to discuss the case in public, offering to give Dean a private briefing on the case at a later time. Three requests for further comment from Ivey's office were not returned.

Ivey told the council that most of the investigation has wrapped up.

"Maryland state police have done about all they're gonna do," he told the council, adding that the investigators were waiting for paperwork from one of the guard's past employers.

Ivey said he is also speaking with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice on the case, who have been monitoring the progress of the investigation and conditions at the jail.

"We'll be releasing everything to the public, depending on DOJ's timing," Ivey said.

Dean said the case continues to concern him.

"There hasn't been much of an outcry around Ronnie White," Dean said.

Bobby Henry, an attorney representing White's family, did not return a message.

E-mail Daniel Valentine at dvalentine@gazette.net.