From left, David Pontinous, Moira Pannepacker, Kelly Lussier and Juliana Restrivo, hold support signs for Freddie Gray outside of Vaughn Greene Funeral Home during his wake Sunday in Baltimore. Gray died from spinal injuries about a week after he was arrested and transported in a police van.

BALTIMORE — Thousands were expected today at a funeral for a man who died after sustaining serious spinal injuries while in the custody of Baltimore police.

Funeral services were planned for 11 a.m. for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who died April 19 after an encounter days earlier with police left him with grave spinal injuries. Pastor Jamal Bryant, who was to deliver Gray’s eulogy, said he expected Baltimore’s New Shiloh Baptist Church to be filled for the service. A cemetery burial was to follow.

In Washington, the White House said the head of President Barack Obama’s initiative for young men of color would attend. Broderick Johnson, chairman of the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force and a Baltimore native, is to be joined by two other administration officials, a White House statement said.

Gray’s death has prompted near-daily demonstrations. Gray was arrested one week before he died when officers chased him through a West Baltimore neighborhood and dragged him into a police van.

Police said Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into the van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.