by Kathy DiNuzzo and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Austin, Texas
25 minutes ago
A local prosecutor in Waller County called on Tuesday for a "thorough review'' and said her death would be examined like a murder investigation.
She was found dead in her cell a week ago, three days after she allegedly hit an officer during a traffic stop.
Her death is one of many under national scrutiny in which a black person has died while in police custody.
The death is already being investigated by the FBI but the local prosecutor said another investigation, by the Texas Rangers, would be very thorough.
"It is very much too early to make any kind of determination that this was a suicide or a murder because the investigations are not complete," said Elton Mathis, the Waller County district attorney.
An Illinois native, 28-year-old Bland was in Texas because she was about to start a new job there when she was pulled over by police.
Bland's family has ordered an independent autopsy and called for a probe from the Department of Justice.
Video footage did not show what happened inside Bland's cell, but did suggest no one entered or left it until someone found her unconscious.
Jail Sheriff Glen Smith said his staff checked on Bland less than an hour before she was found dead.
Her sister Shante Needham said Bland called her from jail, saying she did not know why she had been arrested and that an officer had possibly broken her arm.
The Texas Rangers are testing for fingerprints and DNA to be able to "say with certainty what happened in that cell", Mr Mathis said.
He called her "combative" while being arrested.
"It was not a model traffic stop... and it was not a model person that was stopped on a traffic stop," said Mr Mathis.
"I think the public can make its own determinations as to the behaviours that are seen in the video.''
Mathis said a police dashcam video, set to be released on Tuesday, is "consistent" with what the officer who arrested Bland said about the 10 July traffic stop.
The trooper who arrested Bland is on administrative leave until there is an outcome from the investigation.
More on this story
25 minutes ago
The death of a woman in a Texas jail cell, apparently by suicide, is being reviewed like a murder case.
The coroner said Sandra Bland hanged herself but her family do not believe that would have been possible.A local prosecutor in Waller County called on Tuesday for a "thorough review'' and said her death would be examined like a murder investigation.
She was found dead in her cell a week ago, three days after she allegedly hit an officer during a traffic stop.
Her death is one of many under national scrutiny in which a black person has died while in police custody.
The death is already being investigated by the FBI but the local prosecutor said another investigation, by the Texas Rangers, would be very thorough.
"It is very much too early to make any kind of determination that this was a suicide or a murder because the investigations are not complete," said Elton Mathis, the Waller County district attorney.
An Illinois native, 28-year-old Bland was in Texas because she was about to start a new job there when she was pulled over by police.
Bland's family has ordered an independent autopsy and called for a probe from the Department of Justice.
Video footage did not show what happened inside Bland's cell, but did suggest no one entered or left it until someone found her unconscious.
Jail Sheriff Glen Smith said his staff checked on Bland less than an hour before she was found dead.
Her sister Shante Needham said Bland called her from jail, saying she did not know why she had been arrested and that an officer had possibly broken her arm.
The Texas Rangers are testing for fingerprints and DNA to be able to "say with certainty what happened in that cell", Mr Mathis said.
He called her "combative" while being arrested.
"It was not a model traffic stop... and it was not a model person that was stopped on a traffic stop," said Mr Mathis.
"I think the public can make its own determinations as to the behaviours that are seen in the video.''
Mathis said a police dashcam video, set to be released on Tuesday, is "consistent" with what the officer who arrested Bland said about the 10 July traffic stop.
The trooper who arrested Bland is on administrative leave until there is an outcome from the investigation.
- FBI investigating 'suicide' of woman found dead in a Texas jail
- Sandra Bland's death sparks online demand for answers
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