Say Her Name : 22-year-old Symone Marshall Dies While in Texas Police Custody

22-year-old Symone Marshall died while in police custody and I will not let her story be swept under the rug.

What happened to Symone Marshall?

On April 26th, Marshall and her friend was in a brutal single car accident. The car flipped several times before landing in a ditch, according to her family.

The Root.com reports police and paramedics arrived on the scene and stated Marshall and the passenger were evaluated and both refused medical treatment.

Authorities say both women were arrested and issued misdemeanor and felony charges of cocaine possession after cocaine was allegedly found in Symone’s purse. Marshall was also charged with providing a false identification, KHOU reports.

Claims denied

But Symone Marshall’s family vehemently deny those claims. Symone’s father, Wayne Marshall, stated he believed his daughter was ran off the road and she would not be in possession of an illegal substance.

“My daughter don’t do drugs. She don’t do drugs. They won’t be able to say they found drugs in her body,” Wayne told NewsOne.

“The ranger trying to tell me they don’t even see any signs of her being ran off the road,” Wayne said. “He acting like none of that is true like someone just drove themselves off the road. Just arrest her and forget who ran her off the road?”

Symone’s friend was able to post bond and was released the next day, but Marshall was unable to secure the $5,000 needed to be released so she spent the next two weeks in custody.

Symone Marshall needed medical attention

Marhsall’s family claims that Symone did ask for medical aid but instead was taken to Walker County Jail in Huntsville, TX.

“Symone consistently begged to be taken to a hospital, complained that she didn’t feel good and police refused to take her to a hospital to be evaluated by professional doctors, (even with her sister, Honey Marshall calling and requesting for them to do so) which resulted in her dying in jail two weeks later on May 10th, 2016 from a blood clot in her lung,” her family states on a GoFundMe page created to help with funeral expenses.

“My sister Symone moved to Texas for a fresh start in life. She was doing good down there, had a job, and about to buy a house. She’s a beautiful person, never been in trouble before and didn’t deserve this”, Honey Marshall told the NY Daily News.

“When I talked to her from jail, she complained her head was hurting and she kept blacking out”.

“I called the jail several times and requested them to send her to a real hospital and they wouldn’t do so”..

Sheriff’s Office on the incident

Detective Brad Fullwood of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office told the Huntsville Item that Marshall had “seen a doctor one day and a nurse the other” eight days before her death, and that she did not complain or have any physical injuries.

Honey told KHOU that officials informed her that her sister had seen a doctor in the jail, she insisted that her sister “needs to go to a real hospital.”

Symone Marshall’s death

Marshall went into convulsions on May 10 and was found unresponsive in her cell. Authorities rushed her to Huntsville Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, sparking an internal investigation and reigniting the national debate about Blacks and the criminal justice system. Her death has been referenced to Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd, two other Black women who died in police custody.

The Texas Rangers are conducting an investigation on Marshall’s untimely death. The autopsy results are still pending, the local paper reports.