Six months after Sandra Bland was found dead in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell, her mother, Geneva Reed-Veal, is still searching for answers; and a way to move on. “We’re just as in the dark as so many other people,” she said in a three-part video interview via EBONY.com on Monday, Jan. 25.
Reed-Veal went on to recall speaking with her daughter on the morning of July, 10, 2015, before the 28-year-old was pulled over and arrested after allegedly assaulting an officer during a traffic stop, near Prairie View A&M University. On the phone, Bland had been upbeat and looking forward to her future, Reed-Veal said. “Sandra was what you call an activist. She was very interested and concerned about the little guy — when someone was being done wrong, Sandy was always interested in seeing how she could help. Sandy was a good friend. If she was a friend to you, she was a friend for a long time; lifelong.”
Days later, authorities found Bland — whom her mother described as smart and assertive — dead in her jail cell. Autopsy findings indicated she had killed herself, leaving her family with gripping questions. “How do you move on, as a parent, as a sister, as a brother, when you still don’t have the answer as to why your relative is in the ground?” said Reed-Veal.
And while criminal proceedings are ongoing, surrounding the state trooper who arrested Bland, Reed-Veal says, “I feel like Sandy’s blood is calling out — I really do.”
Trooper Brian Encinia was indicted earlier this month on a misdemeanor charge of perjury for lying about why he asked Bland to exit the vehicle. Since then, the Department of Public Safety has begun termination proceedings against him.
If convicted, Encinia could face up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. But for Reed-Veal the criminal charge is, “the lowest charge on the totem pole” is not enough. “My daughter doesn’t get to be on administrative leave,” she said. “My daughter’s not here to fight her case.”
Bland’s family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Waller County, which is scheduled for a hearing next year.
