Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Twenty-eight-year-old Sandra Bland, who died in a Waller County, Texas jail three days after her arrest, allegedly told jailers during her intake that she had previously tried to commit suicide, according to The Houston Chronicle.

The information came to light after a closed meeting with dozens of elected officials and law enforcement officials on Tuesday, which occurred shortly before authorities released a video of Bland’s violent arrest by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper on July 10 after a minor traffic infraction.

She was booked at the jail after the arrest, which has become the latest example of police excessive force against Blacks in cities around the nation. The information also underscores allegations and concerns that Blacks are further dehumanized and mistreated by law enforcement once behind bars.

From The Houston Chronicle:

Bland disclosed on a form at the  jail that she previously had attempted suicide over that past year, although she also indicated she was not feeling suicidal at the time of her arrest, according to officials who attended the Tuesday meeting with local and state leaders investigating the case…

Turner said Bland’s disclosure about her suicide attempt to jail authorities should have led to increased supervision by jail staff. And it illustrates “the need to make sure we provide the care and the interventions for people who are having behavioral and mental health issues when people are coming into our county jail system.”

Officials with the Waller County DA’s office released the information Wednesday evening. The documents included two separate suicide-risk assessments completed hours apart the day she was arrested, July 10.

Meanwhile, Cannon Lambert, the family’s attorney, raised questions about the intake form, telling reporters, “This family has no evidence that that is the case,” the Chronicle says.

The family has ordered their own independent autopsy and is awaiting results. An initial autopsy reported Bland hanged herself with a trash bag three days after she was incarcerated.

SOURCE: The Houston Chronicle | VIDEO CREDIT: NDN


Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now panel discuss the latest developments in the Sandra Bland case in the video clip below.

Be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, weekdays at 9 a.m. EST on TV One.


SEE ALSO:

6 Things We Know About Brian Encinia, The Texas Trooper Who Arrested Sandra Bland