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[Outrage] One Year After Sandra Bland, Another Young Black Woman Dies in Texas Police Custody

Symone Marshall, 22, was denied medical treatment after car accident.

Nearly one year after the tragic and unexplained death of Sandra Bland, history seems to have repeated itself.
On May 10, 22-year-old Symone Marshall died in a cell in Walker County Jail in Huntsville, Texas. A week later, her family tells New York Daily News that they are no closer to knowing why.

“My sister Symone moved to Texas for a fresh start in life a few months ago. She was doing good down there, had a job and was about to buy a house. She’s a beautiful person, never been in trouble before and didn't deserve this,” her sister, Honey Marshall, said.

According to her family, Marshall was arrested after she was involved in an April 26 car accident that left her car in a ditch. She was taken directly to the jail, though she told her family that she was run off the road. “When I talked to her from jail, she complained that her head was hurting and she kept blacking out,” her sister said. “I called the jail several times and requested for them to take her to a real hospital and they wouldn’t do so. If they would have this, her death could have been prevented and my sister would still be here. My heart hurts so bad. She was my best friend. I am so angry that they did this to her.”

Officials from the jail and the local police department reportedly declined to comment on Marshall’s arrest or death, and the family says they have not released details to them.

Marshall’s death echoes that of several Black women who died in police custody last year — including Bland, Raynette Turner and Natasha McKenna — sparking the hashtag #SayHerName.

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