The Latest: Dozens gather in Austin for march to honor Bland

HEMPSTEAD, Texas (AP) — The latest on the investigation into the death of Sandra Bland, who was found dead in a Texas jail cell earlier this month (all times local):

9:30 p.m.

Dozens of demonstrators gathered at a venerable blues venue on Austin’s east side for a silent march in honor of a Chicago-area woman found dead in a Southeast Texas jail cell.

The group gathered at the Historic Victory Grill and marched to the Texas Capitol for a candlelight vigil in Sandra Bland’s honor. Artists led folk songs and spirituals as speakers called for action on what they called an injustice done in Bland’s case.

Bland was found hanged in her cell at the Waller County jail in Hempstead, Texas, on July 13. Authorities have said she killed herself, a conclusion that her family and other supporters dispute.

Dashcam video showed Bland’s July 10 arrest arose from a confrontation between Bland and a state trooper who had stopped her for a failure to signal a lane change.

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5:30 p.m.

A woman who occupied a jail cell next to Sandra Bland before Bland was found dead says the Chicago-area woman was emotional and wept often during her three days in jail.

Alexandria Pyle tells KTRK television (http://abc13.co/1TV2kDv ) in Houston that Bland was “sort of distraught” that a friend hadn’t come to bail her out of the Waller County jail in Hempstead, Texas. She says Bland said she “was not equipped” for incarceration and thought she was the victim of an injustice.

Pyle also says she heard no signs of a struggle in the cell.

Bland was jailed July 10 after a routine traffic stop by a Texas state trooper in Prairie View, Texas, escalated into a struggle between her and the trooper. Bland was found hanged by a plastic bag wrapped around her neck in her jail cell in what authorities have concluded was a suicide.

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The previous item has been updated to correct the TV station that Pyle spoke with.

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4:45 p.m.

A Texas sheriff says a woman found dead in jail cell hadn’t been under suicide watch.

Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith released a statement Thursday saying guards evaluated 28-year-old Sandra Bland and determined she wasn’t suicidal when she was booked into the county jail on July 10.

Smith says he’s forming a task force to review jail procedures, evaluate personnel and study other relevant issues.

Jail records show that Bland told a worker she’d attempted suicide in the past. One document indicates Bland said she’d had suicidal thoughts within the past year, but another says that wasn’t the case.

Smith said Wednesday that two jailers who evaluated Bland were “adamant” she appeared fine.

Bland, who was black, was arrested following a confrontation with a white state trooper who pulled her over for a minor traffic offense. She was jailed on a charge of assaulting a public servant. She was found hanging in her cell three days later.

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3:40 p.m.

A prosecutor says preliminary autopsy results show that a woman recently found dead in a Texas jail had marijuana in her system and weeks-old cuts on her wrist that were likely self-inflicted.

Waller County prosecutor Warren Diepraam (dih-PRAHM’) says preliminary drug test results from 28-year-old Sandra Bland are worth noting because they could be “relevant to her state of mind.”

He also says the autopsy revealed about 30 cuts on Bland’s left wrist that were likely self-inflicted two to four weeks before her arrest.

Diepraam says autopsy results are consistent with a suicide, though Bland’s family questions whether she took her own life.

Authorities say Bland was found hanging in her jail cell three days after she was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction in Texas. Video of the stop shows the state trooper, who is white, drawing a stun gun and threatening Bland, who was black, when she refuses to follow his orders to get out of the vehicle.

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3:05 p.m.

The sister of an Illinois woman who died in a Texas jail confirms that Sandra Bland had in the past taken prescribed medication for seizures.

Intake documents filled out for Bland after her July 10 arrest in Texas indicate she told staff at the Waller County Jail that she had epilepsy and was taking medication for it. Other forms, however, say she was not taking medication.

Her sister, Sharon Cooper, told The Associated Press on Thursday that her sister suffered from seizures about a decade ago but had not had any in recent years and was not on medication.

Authorities say Bland hanged herself in her cell three days after her arrest. Her family questions whether it was a suicide.

One of the jail intake questionnaires says Bland previously took pills in an attempt to kill herself after losing a baby. Cooper says her sister had a miscarriage in May 2014, but got through it. Cooper also says she wasn’t aware of any suicide attempt.

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3 p.m.

Authorities say any contradictions in jail documents in the case of a woman found dead in a Texas jail cell are a result of her answers to jail officials.

Documents filled out for Sandra Bland when she was booked into a jail contained discrepancies on questions ranging from whether she previously attempted suicide or was taking epilepsy medication.

One questionnaire says Bland took pills in 2015 in an attempt to kill herself after a miscarriage. A separate form filled out by another jail employee says the suicide attempt occurred in 2014.

One form indicates Bland had suicidal thoughts within the past year, another says that’s not the case.

Some of the documents also indicate Bland also told jail officials she was taking the anti-epileptic drug Keppra. On another that contains Bland’s signature, “no” is circled by the question asking if she’s currently on any medication.

Waller County prosecutor Warren Diepraam (dih-PRAHM’) says the documents all reflect Bland’s own answers, and any discrepancies “were as a result of her.”

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2:30 p.m.

Investigators say no injuries consistent with a violent homicide were found during an autopsy of a woman who was found dead in a Texas jail.

Waller County prosecutor Warren Diepraam (dih-PRAHM’) on Thursday discussed details of the autopsy of 28-year-old Sandra Bland, who authorities say was found hanging in her jail cell on July 13.

Diepraam says the autopsy showed that Bland had no defensive injuries on her hands that would typically indicate a struggle. He says some lacerations or abrasions were found on her wrists, injuries consistent with a struggle while being handcuffed.

He also says marks around Bland’s neck are consistent. He says that in violent homicide, investigators wouldn’t see a consistent mark.

He says the injuries that were found would be consistent with a suicide.

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1:40 p.m.

Texas officials say they’ll discuss findings from an autopsy of a woman who authorities say killed herself three days after being arrested during a traffic stop.

Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis is scheduled to discuss the autopsy findings at 2 p.m. Thursday in the case of 28-year-old Sandra Bland, who authorities say was found hanging in her jail cell on July 13.

The district attorney’s office said the report won’t be made public because of the ongoing investigation into Bland’s death. Family and friends are questioning whether she killed herself.

Bland, who was black, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a state trooper who pulled her over for a minor traffic infraction. Video of the stop shows the state trooper, who is white, drawing a stun gun and threatening Bland when she refuses to follow his orders to get out of the vehicle.

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8:30 a.m.

A Texas television station says it has obtained a voicemail from a call Sandra Bland made from jail in which she told a friend that she couldn’t believe what was happening to her.

The Illinois woman was charged with assaulting a public servant after a July 10 traffic stop in Texas turned confrontational. She was found dead in her cell three days later in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide by hanging. Her family disputes that finding.

KTRK-TV in Houston says the call was to friend LaVaughn Mosley.

In the message, Bland calmly says she’s “still just at a loss for words honestly at this whole process” and wonders, “How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this?”

One of Bland’s sisters has said she sounded “very aggravated” in a separate call to her from jail.

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