Freddie Gray was seen walking and talking when he was placed into a Baltimore police van.
But when he emerged, Gray “could not talk, he could not breathe,” Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said in a story in the Washington Post.
Gray died after suffering a severe spinal cord injury.
Six Baltimore police officers were suspended while there is an investigation.
The Justice Department plans to turn over results of the investigation to prosecutors by May 1.
Protests have broken out over the death.
