Sandra Bland's mother: 'True justice will be accountability'
Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series with Sandra Bland's mother, Geneva Reed-Veal. <a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160511/news/160519735/">In part one</a>, Reed-Veal discusses her family's plans for a celebration of Sandra's life and her desire to help other mothers who have lost children.
Nothing can really give a grieving mother closure.
Geneva Reed-Veal knows this, even as she routinely monitors hearings in a Texas courthouse, seeking the exact circumstances of her daughter's death.
“You're talking about being a parent and missing your child,” she says. “And so there's no amount of anything that's ever going to come forth that's going to satisfy me.”
Almost a year has passed since her daughter, Sandra Bland, died in small jail about 60 miles from Houston. And Reed-Veal still cannot accept the official account of what happened, that her daughter killed herself.
Sandra, a 28-year-old former Naperville woman who grew up in Villa Park, was arrested last July during a confrontational traffic stop by Brian Encinia, a Texas state trooper who has since been fired and pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge.
Attorneys who filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of her family say the case has been “shrouded in mystery” and are seeking to question Waller County employees in depositions about how Sandra died in their custody, court documents show.
Reed-Veal, joined by her attorney, Cannon Lambert, recently talked with the Daily Herald about her concerns with the investigation into her daughter's death. She also explained how she's become a “different person” and why she's campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
This is an edited version of that conversation.
Q. What will closure look like when it comes to Sandra's death and when will you know you've reached it?
A. Closure for me is probably never going to occur. I think when you talk to any mother who has lost their child, you don't get closure on that.
True justice, I will say, will be accountability ... knowing there was a real, thorough investigation completed by an outside authority.
You're not going to investigate your colleague. And so for me, I would like to see the Department of Justice step in. That is something I've been standing on. Regardless of what that outcome may be, I want them to step in.
Q. Texas authorities suggest Sandra had mental health issues and died by suicide because she was distraught that her family did not bail her out. You've questioned that version of events. Tell us exactly what you believe happened to Sandra.
A. Let's stop it with the suicide. It's burning me up. It's on my last nerve. And when I sit and I hear these things, and I hear from people who have no idea what the backdrop is for the family, I will say to you to this day, no, I don't believe Sandy committed suicide. I don't. And I will vehemently say that until there is proof to show that.
I don't know what happened. I just don't believe she harmed herself. I'll tell you that. I thought nine months later that I would have some info, but I don't have any info to tell you what happened to her.
Sandra's death is probably the most mysterious that I've ever seen. And I have never seen an individual who was not taken to the hospital after they're dead in a jail cell. Sandy was never taken to the hospital. And she was dealt with by three funeral homes, OK. So excuse me if I don't believe what they're trying to feed me.
Q. What about the bail?
A. I'm not going to address that because I have literally decided that upon reading lies on top of lies, on top of lies, I'm not going to address that.
Lambert: It's a ludicrous position for them to have taken, that the reason she didn't get out is because of the family. They (family members) got a phone call in the late afternoon on Saturday, and by the next 24-hour window, 24 hours later, mid- to late Sunday, they had gotten the money together, and on early Monday morning, we're going to get her out.
It's ridiculous to think somebody who lives in Illinois would know how to deal with and interface with a Texas - a small-town Texas - jail. I think that's been a media construction more than a practical reality, the notion that they were not willing or were not able to post the bail.
They were prepared and made provision to get her out. It's just they couldn't get her out because something happened to her.
And until they got a phone call on Saturday afternoon, letting them know that she was there, they were living their lives. Once they got that phone call, they then started communicating with one another. There were five of them (mom and sisters) that were all communicating with one another, and within 24 hours, we're prepared to get her out.
It wasn't a three-day wait. It wasn't, “We're not going to get her out.” It was literally 24 hours, and having learned of her presence, they had taken steps to get her out. It was Sunday evening and they presumed they had to wait until Monday morning.
And by the time that the Monday morning came around, she was gone. They called to try and get her out and were told, “Well, we'll have to call you back.”
Q. What do you want the law enforcement community to learn from Sandra's experience?
A. (Reed-Veal) The officers they employ need to always have a self-check. I don't advocate for this “train the angry guy.” No, get rid of the angry guy. If you know you have a history of issues with an individual, that individual doesn't need to be retrained - he needs to be dismissed. And let's be clear, here: I don't hate officers. I have a problem with bad officers and being allowed to continue on the force.
Q. You've made several appearances with Hillary Clinton in recent months. How did you get involved with her presidential campaign? How were you approached?
A. She came out and met with 12 families, 12 of us. And she came out, no media, none of that. We met at Sweet Maple restaurant on the West Side, in a closed-door meeting.
She knew each one of our stories. And she said, “Hey, listen, I know what the media said, but you tell me about your baby.” And she literally sat and let every one of us talk about our child.
And, of course, you have mothers in the room who had lost kids to gun violence, black-on-black crime, police brutality, in the room.
So we shared a lot of things with her. She didn't make any promises. She just said that would certainly be something she would be working on and she would get her policies over to us if we wanted them.
After that ... we got an offer to go to the DNC, to the debate. Nobody knew I was there. She didn't announce she brought me there. And I literally sat next to Bernie Sanders' daughter-in-law, son and wife in the second row.
So the final piece she asked was what is it that I wanted for my daughter. Now, we're talking months after this meeting at Sweet Maple. And I said to her, I want accountability. Period. Justice for me means accountability. I want somebody to go to jail. That is exactly what I said to her.
She's been the only one who reached out. No one (else) in my community, not my own congressman, none of them reached out. So I have to tell you, she endorsed my family before I endorsed her.
Q. What would justice mean for you in the case of ex-trooper Encinia?
A. That trooper needs to be arrested. I am just saying to you the mere fact that he is going to defend himself against the perjury charge? No, no, no.
What about the assault and battery? The gentleman slapped my daughter. Clearly, he kneed my daughter.
So I want him to see the inside of a cell.
Q. What's the one thing, above all else, you'd like us to know about Sandra and how her death has affected you and your family?
A. Her death is a domino effect for the family and friends around her. It has affected nieces, nephews, sisters, past co-workers, friends. A lot of people become debilitated. A lot of people become paralyzed. A lot of people become angry.
In the beginning, I would always say, “I got to get back to myself.” No. I'm a new self now. I can't get back there because that's a different person than who I am right now.
You have to embrace the fact that you are a different you, and there is no going back to the way you were.
I would have not have been on anybody's campaign trail. I've always been very vocal. I have been a licensed minister for the past four years, and so I've always been the type of person who will come out and speak, but it's not at this magnitude.
Now, instead of seeing the child who was just murdered, or the mom who just lost their daughter ... now, I have to go back and see who those people were. Now, I'm wanting to get in contact with these people. It has caused me to have this new care and compassion that exceeds anything that a normal human would dare step into because when you're involved with these people and their tragedies, you then take on some of their pain.
I think it has made me more of an aware individual and more of the type of person who wants to advocate even more so for the underdog, the person who is not heard.