A black woman arrested following a car accident in Texas declined medical treatment after the wreck but died two weeks later after going into convulsions in jail, authorities said Wednesday.
Autopsy results are pending for 22-year-old Symone Marshall, who died May 10 after being taken to a hospital from the Walker County jail in Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston. She had been in jail since April 26 on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records.
Marshall was arrested following a single-car accident by Texas Department of Public Safety officers for alleged possession of a controlled substance and failure to identify by giving false information, Walker County Sheriff Clint McRae told The Associated Press.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said it was a rollover crash on Interstate 45.
Marshall's sister, Honey Marshall, told Houston television station KHOU that her sister complained to her from jail that her head was hurting and she felt like blacking out. She also said her sister had recently moved to Texas, looking for a fresh start.
Honey Marshall, who the station said lives in Michigan, did not respond to messages from the AP. The case is drawing attention on social media with a hashtag using Symone Marshall's name, with some questioning the circumstances of her death.
McRae said emergency medical responders were called after the wreck. The sheriff said Symone Marshall and another person exited the car and walked around. He said neither had visible physical injuries and both denied medical treatment.
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The sheriff said while Marshall was jailed, she was seen by medical staff after experiencing a loss of appetite and was at one point seen by a doctor.
Honey Marshall told KHOU that jail staff said her sister had seen a doctor at the jail but that she wanted her to go to the hospital.
The sheriff said everything at the jail was handled per protocol, but that his office is investigating the death with the Texas Rangers, which is standard policy when someone being held in jail dies.
The other person in the vehicle also was arrested for alleged possession of a controlled substance but bonded out within a day, the sheriff said. McRae estimated that if Symone Marshall had used a bondsman, she could have bonded out for around $750.
