Charges have been dismissed against a Black woman named Fant Jomecia, whose mug shot went viral with comparisons to Sandra Bland’s mugshot from 2015, who many speculated was already dead when photographed.
Jomecia, 28, was arrested Tuesday on a criminal trespass charge by Harris County constables after she was accused of jumping from a balcony to enter an apartment without consent, court records indicate.
However, when she was being booked into the Harris County Jail and photographed for her mug shot, a gloved hand can be seen holding her head up from beneath her chin, giving the impression that she was unable to do so on her own.
The mug shot was then posted on the Facebook page of the Harris County Constable page – as they do with many suspects – but readers began criticizing the constables, accusing them of excessive force and even murder.
Some even compared her to Bland, who was also 28, the Black woman who died in custody after being booked into the Waller County Jail, which is adjacent to Harris County.
The online criticism was so fierce that the Harris County Constable’s office removed the photo from Facebook without explanation.
But the initial post stated that Jomecia was booked “without incident,” according to local media that reported on it before it was removed.
And if that were the case, why would anyone need to grab her face to photograph her?
“Is she okay because this reminds me of Sandra Bland’s mugshot?” asked a commenter of Smash Da Topic who posted the image on its Facebook page.
“This is the very first thing that crossed my mind,” responded another commenter.
“AS SOON as I saw this I said its looking REEEAL Sandra Blandish,” added a third commenter.
“Guaranteed she is deceased…… If not my apologies but Im not buying it.”
Another commenter agreed, saying, “She looks dead already.”
Thankfully, she does not appear to be dead because court records show she is no longer in custody after prosecutors on Thursday dismissed the trespassing charge “in the interest of justice.”
Sandra Bland
Bland was pulled over on July 10, 2015, for failing to signal a lane change, then ordered out of the car by Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia, who threatened to “light her up” if she did not comply with his orders.
He ended up forcing her out of the car and arresting her on a charge of assaulting an officer – although his own dash cam video shows it was him assaulting her over a minor infraction.
Waller County sheriff’s deputies then said they found her hanging in her jail cell three days later, after she failed to raise the $500 to bond out.
But many people speculated she was already dead when photographed for her mugshot because she appeared lifeless and limp, with many suggesting she was actually lying down when photographed.
However, the Waller County Sheriff’s Office released three days of video footage showing that Bland was alive and walking when being booked and photographed.
The footage does not show her inside her cell, but it shows paramedics and deputies entering her cell with a stretcher, then wheeling her body out of the cell.
Her death was ruled a suicide, but Bland’s family remains skeptical. In 2016, they were awarded a $1.9 million settlement.
And Encinia, the trooper who arrested her, was fired and charged with misdemeanor perjury for lying about her arrest, claiming he ordered her out of the car because his “safety was in jeopardy” — when the video evidence showed he was just annoyed she would not put out her cigarette.
The perjury charge against him was dismissed in exchange for the surrendering of his law enforcement certification and for never seeking work in law enforcement again.
But it still took four years for Bland’s own video of her arrest to surface, adding fuel to the conspiracy that the Waller County Sheriff’s Office was trying to suppress evidence.
And a Prairie View police officer named Michael Kelley told the media that he was threatened with retaliation by a prosecutor if he testified or presented evidence in favor of Bland.
“My opinion is that he [Encinia] messed up,” Kelley told the media in 2016. “He did not have probable cause to detain her after he pulled her out of the car.”
He said he was warned by a county prosecutor to remain silent about what he had seen, including bruises on Bland’s forehead when he pulled up to the scene.
“He told me it wouldn’t be good for my career,” Kelley said at the time.
In 2019, a Black man named Evan Lindell Parker was found hanging in the same jail cell where Bland died. His death was also ruled a suicide.
