Naperville Woman's Family Hires Attorney To Investigate Her Death In Texas Jail Cell
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Relatives of a Naperville woman who died in a Texas jail cell said it's "unfathomable" that she committed suicide, as authorities have said, and they've hired an attorney to get answers.
On Friday, Sandra Bland was arrested in Waller County, about 50 miles from Houston after allegedly assaulted a police officer during a traffic stop. She had been pulled over for allegedly failing to signal a lane change.
In a video of her arrest, recorded by a bystander, an officer can be seen standing over Bland as she is on the ground. Bland can be heard accusing police of overly aggressive tactics, and yelling "all this for a traffic signal?" as officers placed her in handcuffs while she was on the ground.
Bland was charged with assault on a public servant.
Her sister, Shante Needham, said Bland called her from jail on Saturday.
"She said they couldn't tell her what she was arrested for until an hour before she had called," she said.
Needham said her sister also accused police officers of excessive force during the arrest.
"She then proceeded to say that the officer had put his knees in her back, and that she thought her shoulder was broken," Needham said.
Sandra Bland was charged with assault on a public servant. Monday morning, she was found unresponsive in her jail cell. The Waller County Sheriff's Office said she was later pronounced dead of apparent "self-inflicted asphyxiation." An autopsy on Tuesday ruled her death to be a suicide by hanging.
But Bland's sister, Sharon Cooper, questioned that ruling.
"Based on the Sandy that I knew, that's unfathomable to me," she said. "That's the word that keeps ringing true for me, is just that that's very challenging to believe."
Family attorney Cannon Lambert went further than that, telling reporters some in the family believe Bland was killed.
Lambert and at least one family member said they are going to Texas to try to meet with the Texas Rangers, who are investigating Bland's death.
Some have taken to social media to question the official account of her death, with hashtags including #sayhername and #whathappenedtosandrabland.
Bland and her mother had driven to Texas so Bland could interview for a new job. She got the job, but had not started yet.
Bland spoke out about police brutality often on her Facebook page, which is full of postings of a political nature.
"If we can get enough white people to show that all lives matter, maybe they'll stop killing our black brothers. In the news that we've seen of late, you can stand there, surrender to the cops, and still be killed," she said in one video posted on her Facebook page in April. "There are uneducated people who are hell-bent on self-extermination. I am not one of them. I am into building up my kings and queens, so for me black lives matter."
Authorities in Texas have said the investigation of Bland's death could take a few weeks or months.