(AURN News) — On July 13, 2015, Sandra Bland died in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell, three days after a traffic stop escalated into her arrest.
Bland, a 28-year-old Black woman, had been pulled over for failing to signal a lane change. Video of the confrontation showed Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia threatening her with a Taser and removing her from the car.
On July 13, 2015, she was found hanging in her jail cell with a plastic trash bag around her neck. Officials ruled her death a suicide, but her family and supporters questioned the circumstances surrounding her death and the jail’s treatment of her.
Her death became a symbol of police violence and the dangers Black women face in custody. In 2016, Bland’s family reached a $1.9 million wrongful-death settlement with Waller County. The agreement required changes to jail monitoring, medical staffing and inmate screening procedures.
