Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 Baltimore's state's attorney probably did not expect to be thrust into the national spotlight during her fourth month on the job. And yet Marilyn Mosby — the youngest top prosecutor of any major city in America — now finds herself playing a key role in a local drama that has gripped the country. 
 
 The 35-year-old is tasked with determining whether charges are warranted in the controversial death of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died after suffering a spinal cord injury in police custody. Gray's death has inspired protests in Baltimore and nationwide. 
 
 On Thursday, the Baltimore police commissioner announced the department had handed confidential information on how Gray died over to prosecutors. The Justice Department is working on its own independent investigation. 
 
 Mosby did not return a call from NBC News requesting comment, but her office confirmed it had received the police department's investigative file. 
 
 "However, the results of their investigation is not new to us," the office said in a statement. " We have been briefed regularly throughout their process while simultaneously conducting our own independent investigation into the death of Freddie Gray. ... We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system." 
 
 Mosby is a Democrat who comes from a long line of police officers — but she has been vocal about holding cops accountable in the past. 
 
 "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fit the bill." 
 
 "She has a natural affinity for police officers and law enforcement types, and at the same time, she is aware of the incredible number of complaints against the Baltimore City police department," said Richard Woods, a Baltimore-based attorney whose practice is primarily criminal defense work. 
 
 Woods has known Mosby for years and supported her in her campaign for state's attorney. "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fit the bill." ||||| The death of Freddie Gray has been ruled by the medical examiner's office a homicide caused by severe trauma. 
 
 Interested in ? Add as an interest to stay up to date on the latest news, video, and analysis from ABC News. Add Interest 
 
 State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the chief prosecutor for Baltimore, announced this morning that her office has also found probable cause to pursue criminal charges in connection to the case. 
 
 Officers Caesar Goodson Jr., (top left) William Porter (top center), Edward Nero (below left) and Garrett Miller (below center), Lt. Brian Rice (top right), and Sgt. Alicia White (below right) were arrested and charged in Gray's death. 
 
 Michael Davey, the attorney hired by one of the officers, spoke on behalf of all six, saying “these officers will be vindicated because they have done nothing wrong.” 
 
 “No officer injured Mr. Gray, caused harm to Mr. Gray, and [they] are truly saddened by his death,” Davey said during a news conference this afternoon with the police union. 
 
 Mosby announced a series of charges facing the six police officers involved in putting Gray in custody and transporting him in the police van on the morning of April 12. The charges vary for each individual, but include several counts of manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment, among others. The most serious charge she listed was second-degree depraved heart murder, which only Goodson faces. All were released this evening after posting bond. 
 
 Gray, 25, was taken into police custody in Baltimore April 12 and sustained a spinal injury during that time requiring medical attention. He went into a coma several days later and died a week after his apprehension. Police have never said why they took him into custody, noting only that he ran from officers, and they have not publicly explained how Gray received the spinal injury. 
 
 Mosby detailed the findings of her office's independent investigation into Gray's apprehension, and she detailed how officers are alleged to have repeatedly ignored Gray's pleas for help and that officers allegedly bound his arms behind his back and put his legs in clamps but did not secure him within the police wagon with a seat belt, which is a violation of Baltimore police policy. 
 
 One of the biggest findings that Mosby announced was that the decision to take Gray into custody in the first place was unwarranted because the knife that he had is allowed under Baltimore laws. While the knife was able to fold, it was not a switchblade. 
 
 Mosby urged calm in the wake of the charges, speaking directly to protesters at the end of her news conference. 
 
 "I heard your call for 'no justice, no peace.' However your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of Freddie Gray," she said. 
 
 In an open letter today before Mosby's news conference, the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police asked Mosby to appoint a special independent prosecutor. 
 
 "I have full faith in your professional integrity. While I have the utmost respect for you and your office, I have very deep concerns about the many conflicts of interest presented by your office conducting an investigation in this case," the statement read. "These conflicts include your personal and professional relationship with Gray family attorney, William Murphy and the lead prosecutor’s connections with members of the local media." 
 
 President Obama commented on the charges shortly after they were announced, though avoided going into the details of the case because it remains open. 
 
 “It is absolutely vital that the truth comes out about what happened to Mr. Freddie Gray,” Obama said. 
 
 “I can tell you that justice needs to be served, all the evidence needs to be presented. Those individuals who are charged obviously are also entitled to due process and rule of law. I want to make sure that our legal system runs the way it should,” he said, noting that the U.S. Attorney General’s office is in communication with authorities in Baltimore. 
 
 “What I think the people of Baltimore want more than anything else is the truth,” he said. “That’s what people around the country expect.” 
 
 Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 A Baltimore prosecutor announced criminal charges on Friday against six police officers in the arrest of Freddie Gray, whose death after suffering a spinal cord injury in police custody touched off riots. 
 
 One officer, the driver of the van that carted Gray away after his arrest, was charged with a count known as second-degree depraved heart murder. Other charges against the six officers included manslaughter, assault and misconduct. 
 
 All six officers were booked and released on bond by Friday evening. 
 
 Marilyn Mosby, the state's attorney for Baltimore, said that Gray's arrest on April 12 was illegal and had been ruled a homicide. 
 
 She said officers failed to get medical help for him even though he repeatedly asked for it. She also said a switchblade that officers accused Gray of carrying illegally was a legal pocket knife. 
 
 "I assured his family that no one is above the law and that I would pursue justice on their behalf," Mosby said at a press conference, where cheers went up when she announced the charges. 
 
 Gray, 25, died a week after his arrest. His was the latest case in a national debate about police tactics. In Baltimore, dozens of people were arrested during civil unrest on Monday night, including riots, looting and fires. 
 
 Gov. Larry Hogan called for continued calm, and President Barack Obama said it was important for the people of Baltimore to get the truth. "That's what people around the country expect," he said. 
 
 Mosby said that Gray repeatedly asked for medical attention during his ride from the scene of his arrest to the booking site. 
 
 "A medic was finally called to the scene, where the medic determined that Mr. Gray was in cardiac arrest," she said. 
 
 Baltimore's police commissioner said Thursday that his department had handed over confidential information on how Gray died to prosecutors. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is also working on its own independent investigation. 
 
 Mosby said in Friday's news conference that her office had been investigating Gray's death independently of police's investigation. 
 
 "We knew that this was a serious case," she said. "From Day 1, we investigated. We’re not just relying solely on what we were given by the police department." 
 
 The Baltimore police union defended the officers in an open letter to the prosecutor. 
 
 "Not one of the officers involved in this tragic situation left home in the morning with the anticipation that someone with whom they interacted would not go home that night," wrote Gene Ryan, a union official. 
 
 "As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray," he wrote. "To the contrary, at all times, each of the officers diligently balanced their obligations to protect Mr. Gray and discharge their duties to protect the public." 
 
 Mosby comes from five generations of police officers. She was sworn in as state's attorney in January after a surprise win in November, and spoke out against police brutality during her campaign. 
 
 "Police brutality is completely inexcusable. I'm going to apply justice fairly, even to those who wear a badge," she told the Baltimore Sun. 
 
 IN-DEPTH 
 
 Jon Schuppe contributed to this report.
– Baltimore's police department wrapped up its own investigation into Freddie Gray's death a day early and turned it over to the city's top prosecutor today, reports the Baltimore Sun. Now all eyes are on State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who is in her fourth month on the job and at 35 is the youngest lead prosecutor in any major US city, reports NBC News. Her supporters, though, say she's perfect for the case. Police work runs in her family, but she campaigned for office talking tough against police brutality. "She has a natural affinity for police officers and law enforcement types, and at the same time, she is aware of the incredible number of complaints against the Baltimore city police department," says an attorney who knows her. "It was important to have somebody who was willing to look at it from both sides, and Marilyn Mosby fits the bill." Mosby's office released a statement emphasizing that it will conduct its own investigation into Gray's death and not just rely on the police report. One new wrinkle: Police revealed that the van carrying Gray made an additional, previously undisclosed, stop on the way to the police station, though the reason and significance aren't clear. The AP says the van stopped at "a desolate intersection with three vacant lots and a corner store." (Earlier, another prisoner in the van suggested that Gray was trying to injure himself, at least according to a police document cited by the Washington Post.)