Police say Ronnie Lionel White, 19, of Laurel was the alleged driver of the pick-up truck that struck Cpl. Richard Findley. (WJLA photo)

The FBI has opened a civil rights investigation into White’s death, FBI spokesman Richard J. Wolf tells WTOP.

White was found dead in his cell 36 hours after he was charged with killing Cpl. Richard Findley Friday afternoon.

Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson announced Monday night that Maryland State Police and the FBI will be investigating the death. Johnson said that he believes the death was “unrelated to any act by the Prince George’s County Police Department.”

“If we have vigilante justice, our society will fall apart,” Johnson said Monday night.

White was admitted to jail early Saturday morning, and he was given a medical assessment and placed in a maximum security cell. Since he was classified as a high profile offender, police say they routinely checked on him every half hour.

On Sunday, police say they checked on White 15 minutes before he was found unconscious.

“Correctional officers found him sitting on his bed alert. When officers returned 15 minutes later to serve him his lunch, he was unresponsive,” says Col. Gregory Harris, deputy director of the Bureau of Operations with the Prince George’s County Correctional Department. “The on-site medical staff were immediately called and found no visible signs of trauma.”

Corrections officials say the jail has cameras, but no video of who might have come into White’s cell.

Sources say the case will likely go to a grand jury.

On Friday morning, police say Findley was watching a truck that he thought was stolen in an apartment complex on Bowie Road near Route 197.

When Findley saw two people get into the truck, he attempted to make a traffic stop, but the truck did not stop.

The truck hit the police cruiser. At some point, Findley got out of the cruiser and was struck and dragged by the pickup, police say.

Findley was taken to Laurel Regional Hospital in serious condition. He died of his injuries a short time later. He is the first officer to be killed in Prince George’s County since 2005.

White was one of four people police detained in the death of Findley. He was charged with first-degree murder. Police say the other three individuals are still under investigation.

Findley was a 10-year veteran of the force and served as a firefighter for 20 years at the Beltsville Fire House. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

Funeral services for Findley have been arranged for Thursday.