An inmate who spent three days in a cell across from Sandra Bland at the Waller County Jail in Texas said she is positive that Ms. Bland committed suicide and was not killed by prison guards.
“I don’t think the guards did anything, I mean it’s a tragedy either way, but I don’t think the guards did anything,” Alexandria Pyle told local ABC reporters on Friday.
State and federal authorities are now investigating the death of Ms. Bland, 28, who was traveling to Texas from Illinois for a new job when she was arrested during a traffic stop for being combative and uncooperative with an officer. Three days later she was found dead in her jail cell. Her family and friends dispute the official finding that she killed herself.
When asked if she believed Ms. Bland’s death was a suicide, Ms. Pyle answered, “I’m positive it was, but that’s just me.”
Ms. Pyle, who was in jail for unpaid traffic tickets, described the guards at Waller County Jail as “good guards,” and said she didn’t believe they would have done anything to hurt Ms. Bland.
“They’re strict when they need to be, but they’re usually really nice. She wasn’t causing a ruckus or anything, so I don’t see why the guards would do anything to her,” Ms. Pyle told the local station.
Ms. Pyle, who was just released Thursday, was in a cell with two other women while Ms. Bland was alone across the hall in cell 95. Over three days, the two women communicated through small rectangular openings in their cell doors.
Ms. Pyle said that Mr. Bland was distraught when she first arrived, and was crying so much that she could barely understand her.
“She, uh showed me scratches, bruises on her wrist and stuff, but we were talking through something this big,” Ms. Pyle recalled, describing the small rectangular opening in the door. “So I really couldn’t see anything.”
She said Ms. Bland was frustrated Saturday when her friend LaVaughn Mosley, whom she repeatedly called, never came to the jail to post bond.
“She said, ’He’s not answering, it’s going straight to voicemail. I don’t know why, I don’t know why. He said he’s going to be here in an hour, and it’s days later,’” Ms. Pyle said, ABC reported.
Then on Monday morning, Ms. Pyle realized something was wrong when she heard the commotion of guards photographing the cell across the hall.
“I just asked if everything was OK. And they just looked at me and went like this,” she said, shaking her head, ABC reported.
Investigators are looking into a traffic stop that led to Ms. Bland’s arrest before her death three days later inside the jail cell.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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