Family of Sandra Bland files federal lawsuit over her controversial death in police custody

'The bottom line is, she never should have been inside of a jail — period'

((Courtesy of Bland family))

The family of Sandra Bland, a black woman who died in Texas police custody, filed a lawsuit at the federal courthouse on Tuesday.

Ms Bland was arrested on 10 July in Waller County and was found dead in Hempstead on 13 July. Police say the 28-year-old Illinois women hanged herself. Family members have disputed this saying she would never have taken her own life.

Geneva Reed-Veal, Ms Bland's mother, filed the lawsuit in the US District Court Southern District of Texas.

“The bottom line is, she never should have been inside of a jail — period,” she said during a televised press conference on Tuesday morning.

The lawsuit names Brian Encinia, the officer who arrested Ms Bland, the entire Waller County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Her sister Sharon Cooper said Ms Bland shouldn't have been in police custody to begin with.

“We are three weeks out from Sandra’s death. We're a week out from burying her and we still don’t know what happened to her,” she said.

The case is currently being reviewed by the FBI and the Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis.