A Baltimore City Council member plans to introduce a resolution calling for the police to reopen the investigation into the mysterious death of prominent activist Robert Lee Clay at the next council meeting on Sept. 18.

Belinda Conaway, D-7th District, said Clay’s family prompted her to push forward a resolution that represents more than a symbolic measure, which the police can simply ignore if they choose to.

“What touched me the most was that his children wanted to see the case reviewed,” she said.

In addition, famed pathologist Henry Lee has joined three other crime-scene experts, claiming there are problems with the quick ruling of suicide by the medical examiner’s office. Those experts cited the location of the body on the stairs near the front door as an unusual place to commit suicide and called it troubling that police were unable to locate the bullet that killed Clay.

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“It looks like a stretch to call this a suicide,” Lee told The Examiner. “The report is so sketchy. There’s not much information. Without crime-scene photographs, it’s hard to make a definitive conclusion.”

Family members have consistently requested that police continue to investigate the case despite police officials saying the family is satisfied with the suicide ruling in the case.

Clay, a Howard County resident, was found dead in the front hall of his east Baltimore office on May 16, 2005, shortly after complaining about the city’s minority contracting. He had a gunshot wound in the head, and the medical examiner’s office ruled Clay’s death a suicide.

But a series of articles in The Examiner raised questions about the case, including the fact that Clay was right-handed and shot himself with his left hand, and both his family and friends said he was not suicidal.

Council Member Conaway said that she, too, was unsatisfied with the ruling.

“So many questions that are unanswered about this case,” she said.

Bill Goodin, a lifelong friend of Clay’s, said the resolution is recognition of Clay’s importance to the community.

“Clay was a hero to the little guy, and now we need to stand up for him,” he said.

Sharon Clay, Robert Clay’s daughter, said that she is in favor of the resolution.

A reward of $50,000 for Clay’s killer still stands, said P.C. Prince, president of Legal Services Associates.

“There are many people who would like to see this brought to light,” he said. “People want answers.”

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com lbroadwater@baltimoreexaminer.com