Community activists take New York paper to task for report on woman's death at Walker County Jail

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22-year-old Symone Marshall recently moved to Huntsville from Detroit.

Late last month, she and a friend were arrested and taken to the Walker County Jail after a car accident.

“The young woman signed a medical release with the Department of Public Safety saying she didn’t need any medical attention,” said community activist Quanell X. “that she was fine.”

But in a newspaper article Symone’s sister is quoted as saying she spoke to Symone during her 15-day jail stay for drug charges and Symone repeatedly told her she was being refused medical attention.

That article, which only quotes Symone’s sister, accuses the Walker County Sheriff’s Department of causing the young woman’s death and compares the case to that of Sandra Bland in Waller County.

“This is not identical to Sandra Bland--this is totally different,” said Quanell X. “I’m really hurt and upset that they would get everybody riled up considering what we just went through with Sandra Bland.”

Community activists says they met with the Walker County Sheriff’s Department and say they have no reason to believe anyone did anything wrong.

“In this particular case they were quite open which was surprising to me,” said community activist Dr. Robert Muhammad.

“I don’t believe she was physically abused, I don’t believe she was mistreated, but I do believe she did receive adequate thorough care here and that she died at the hospital--not here,” Quanell X said.

“The sheriff DPS and everyone was transparent in this case but it doesn’t give them a pass on anything else that may have transpired or will transpire,” said Muhammad.

The exact cause of the young woman’s death is pending toxicology reports.

But a few days ago Marshall’s father shared a phone conversation with Fox26 that he recorded with the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office.

In that conversation Marshall is told by that office it appears Symone’s death was the result of a blood clot.