A Texas grand jury decided not to indict anyone in connection to last July's death of Sandra Bland, a Chicago-area woman who was found hanging at the Waller County jail in Texas. The grand jury had met for more than eight hours Monday in order to determine whether Brian Encinia, the white trooper who arrested 28-year-old Bland on July 10 after she allegedly failed to use her turn signal, should face charges.
"After reviewing all the evidence in the death of Sandra Bland, a Waller grand jury did not return an indictment in the death of Bland, nor were any indictments returned against any employee of the Waller County Jail," said Darrell Jordan, a special prosecutor handling the case, according to CNN.
There has been quite a bit of mystery surrounding Bland's death, with the only thing that anyone can definitively agree on is the fact that Bland was found dead in her cell on July 13. A medical examiner after an autopsy determined that Bland had hung herself with a plastic bag, ruling her death a suicide.
However, relatives and supporters have questioned that account, accusing law enforcement of wrongdoing, reported USA Today. Her name soon joined the likes of Eric Garner, Michael Brown and Freddie Gray as the result of racism within the criminal justice system. These questions persisted through Monday night.
"We are not going to allow what they have done in a limited, secret capacity to prevent us from doing what we need to do to get answers for the family," said Bland family attorney Cannon Lambert.
Jordan notes that the grand jury will reconvene in January to "take up remaining issues," stressing that the decision doesn't mark the end of the investigation, according to The New York Times.
"It's all in the way you phrase it," he said. "The case is not over. That's what I'm stressing right now. The case is not over."
