Mom of Sandra Bland talks life after daughter's death and move to Waller County
WALLER, Texas (KTRK) -- Sandra Bland's mother said Tuesday she has moved to Waller County permanently to support families experiencing racial injustice.
Geneva Reed-Veal collected her daughter's last belongings from the Waller County Jail where she died two years ago.
"It's time for my journey here," Reed-Veal said. "If I have to stay here forever, I will do that. I am on a mission."
Two years ago, ex-DPS Trooper Brian Encinia pulled Bland over in a traffic stop that would start a life-changing sequence of events. Bland was taken to jail on suspicion of assaulting an officer and was later found dead in the Waller County Jail.
The Harris County Medical Examiner ruled her death a suicide, a finding Reed-Veal still disputes.
She said the $1.9 million settlement she received from the civil lawsuit against Waller County and DPS is helping to fund her new calling. She wants to build affordable student housing for students at Prairie View A&M University.
"That's going to be Sandy's Place of Peace, the other is going to be like a restoration house for unemployed people, teaching job training skills and that kind of stuff," Reed-Veal said.
She said she is continuing her daughter's legacy of activism.
"I'm gonna show up in Waller County and I'm gonna bring some fire to this little town," Reed-Veal said. "You won't do this to anyone else's baby. And that's how I feel right now. I feel like I have to be this protector, this protector of kids."
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Reed-Veal said she is still trying to locate Bland's cell phone. She said it was not in the box of belongings she received Monday from the Waller County Jail.
Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith said he welcomes Reed-Veal to the county.
Encinia did not agree to be interviewed as a part of this story.
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