Sandra Bland’s family has settled their wrongful death lawsuit, their attorney said Thursday.
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Bland’s family is happy with the result, her mother Geneva Reed-Veal, told Buzzfeed News.
The family will receive $1.9 million dollars from Waller County and the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to attorney Ted Diamantopoulos.
The family’s Chicago-based attorney, Cannon Lambert, told Houston television station KTRK that the $1.9 million settlement includes a provision that the jail have a 24-hour nurse or emergency medical technician on duty.
A bill named after Bland will also be introduced in the state legislature seeking more funding for local jails and improved training for jail personnel.
But Bland’s mother was quick to add, that she also received assurances, of changes in the way future detainees will be handled in the Waller County lockup where her daughter was found hanged in the summer of 2015.
The July 10, 2015, exchange caught on dashcam video became heated, according to court documents, which allege that Encinia “threatened Bland with bodily injury by pointing the Taser at her and saying words to the effect of ‘I’ll light you up.’ ” He then took her into custody.
Investigators say she died a few days later.
Lambert told CBS News that there is an agreement with the Texas department of public safety and Waller County to bring an end to the federal civil rights action, which had been scheduled for trial in January.
A timeline from the Waller County Sheriff’s Office said a guard stopped and briefly talked with Bland shortly after 7 a.m., but no one came back to check on her until 8:55 a.m.
“Step out or I’ll make you”, he told her, but she moved away from him at which point he reached into the vehicle in an attempt to pull her out.
Dashcam video shows Encinia drawing his stun gun and telling Bland “I will light you up” after she refused to get out of her vehicle.
Bland was arrested during a traffic stop that turned confrontational.
Encinia was indicted by a grand jury for lying about the circumstances of Bland’s arrest, a misdemeanor perjury charge, and was sacked by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The Waller County sheriff’s office said an agreement had been reached but was not yet final.
The department of public safety faulted Encinia for his conduct during the stop and later fired him.
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Tom Rhodes, another attorney representing the Bland family, said the county will also be required to install sensors to ensure cell checks electronically. The officer involved stated that Bland had made an improper lane change and a subsequent refusal by Sandra Bland to extinguish her cigarette triggered a confrontation.
