The post-mortem of a black woman who was found dead in a Texas jail revealed no injuries that would suggest she was killed by someone else, the authorities said.
Waller County prosecutor Warren Diepraam said the post-mortem showed that 28-year-old Sandra Bland had no defensive injuries on her hands that would typically indicate a struggle.
Some cuts or bruises were found on her wrists, which were consistent with a struggle while being handcuffed.
Marks around Ms Bland’s neck were consistent with a suicide by hanging, Mr Diepraam said.
Ms Bland also had about 30 small cuts on her wrist that were probably self-inflicted within the last few weeks, he added.
She was arrested in a traffic stop three days before she was found dead in her cell on July 13th. Her family and friends dispute the official finding that she killed herself.
Texas Rangers and the FBI are investigating.
The officer has been placed on desk duty for violating protocols during the roadside arrest.
Ms Bland’s family and friends have said it is impossible to believe she would kill herself, especially at a time when she had just secured a new job and seemed buoyant.
“Why is it that a 28-year-old woman who had received two job offers [would]take her own life? Why would she call her mom in excitement about those jobs and take her own life?” Cannon Lambert, the family’s attorney, said at a news conference in Chicago, where Ms Bland will be buried on Saturday.
Ms Bland had talked about suffering from depression and PTSD in a Facebook post in March, but her family has said she had not been clinically diagnosed with depression.
Agencies