The Illinois woman who died of apparent “self-inflicted asphyxiation” in her Texas jail cell three days after her arrest during a routine traffic stop last week allegedly told jailers she’d tried to commit suicide last year, according to jail records.
The death of Sandra Bland has raised questions from her family and others who don’t believe the 28-year-old who had recently gotten a new job would have hanged herself at the Waller County Jail on July 13.
RELATED: Sandra Bland’s sister says video shows trooper bullied her after ‘ego bruised’
Jail intake forms released by the Waller County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday appear to show “yes” boxes checked on a questionnaire that asked “have you ever attempted suicide” and “have you thought about killing yourself in the last year?”
The forms also say Bland had been “very depressed” in the last year. It is unclear if Bland filled out the form or someone else.
According to the form, the suicide attempt was in 2014 — it appears as though “2015” was first entered, and “4” was then written over the final digit. The reason listed was “lost baby” and the method was “pills.” The form also asks, “are you thinking about killing yourself today,” and Bland apparently marked “no.”
Bland’s family does not believe the official account that Bland committed suicide. The FBI and Texas Rangers are investigating the circumstances of her death.
An attorney representing Bland’s family, Cannon Lambert, told reporters Wednesday that relatives have no evidence that she ever attempted suicide or had been treated for depression.
“We take issue with the notion that she was suffering from depression,” he said.
RELATED: Officials say glitch, not editing, caused video irregularities
Bland did make a social media video post in March in which she said she was depressed, but Lambert has said that doesn’t speak to her mind at the time of the arrest.
Bland was arrested by a Texas trooper after a traffic stop for switching lanes without signaling on July 10, in an encounter that begins as a routine stop but escalated after the trooper ordered her out of the car.
Bland apparently hanged herself with a plastic trash can liner sometime before she was discovered in her cell at around 9 a.m. on July 13, authorities said.
Lambert on MSNBC Wednesday night said the Waller County prosecutor’s office requested a second autopsy, and that the first autopsy was defective.
The Waller County District Attorney’s Office told NBC News that is not the case.
A representative of the officer said the first autopsy was not faulty and no second autopsy is planned, but the county does want to preserve the body for any testing that may need to be done as the investigation continues. Bland’s body has been turned over to her family.
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Phil Helsel