Waller County Sheriff officials said they believe Bland died in her cell the morning of July 13, from asphyxiation with a trash bag, three days after she was pulled over for not using her turn signal and then arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer. On Thursday, Warren Diepraam, a Waller County prosecutor, said Bland's cause of death was suicide. "It needs to be a thorough and exhaustive review." A lot of people are saying that there's a possibility that #SandraBland was dead & then the police took her mugshot. But after word circulated about the case, questions went viral. “To think that you can discern whether she is alive or dead based on this image is ridiculous and alarmist,” he says. Like i've seen lifeless bodies before but this is just different 
 
 Some of the inconsistencies gaining traction have already been answered, some remain under official investigation, and some have not been answered. Three days later, Bland was found dead, hanging from a noose made from a plastic bag, in her cell at the Waller County Jail. "I hope they did not do such a despicable thing as is being implied." “The mugshot is taken when she comes in, so the theory is she’s dead when she comes out of the police car, after a police altercation, and they don’t announce her death for three days? "There's nothing in it to suggest that she's dead in that shot," Baden said. They also point out that she is wearing orange jail wear for the mugshot, not her street clothes. There have been other mugshot photos taken at the Waller County Sheriff's Department where an inmate has been put in an orange jumpsuit. “But to say that she’s dead from the photo is ridiculous because you can say that about almost any head photo. her background is the same color as her cell floor... #WhatHappenedToSandraBland 
 
 People have also speculated about the position of Bland's shoulders, the fact that the color of the background matches the floor of the jail's holding cell, and the angle of the photograph in order to make the case that Bland was not alive when the photo was taken. Sheriff officials said mug shot pictures are taken on a wall just south of the booking officer's desk.
– One forensic expert tells the Daily Beast the claim is "ridiculous." But being ridiculous never stopped the Internet before: A theory has been making the rounds on social media (and covered by outlets like USA Today and Buzzfeed) that Sandra Bland was actually dead in her mugshot photo. The argument being put forth: the background's photo looks like the cell floor; she's wearing an orange jumpsuit, while most mugshots taken at the jail feature street clothes; her eyes look "flat," as USA Today puts it. But Buzzfeed observes that "mugshots of other inmates at Waller County Jail ... were taken against a similar background." And a two-page statement from the Waller County Sheriff's Department released Thursday explained the jumpsuit. "Depending on how many inmates are being processed at this time, an inmate's photograph may be taken in their original clothing, or the inmate may be dressed out in orange," it read. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden shot down the theory in comments to USA Today. The eyelids of the dead typically droop when open, he says, while her eyes appear "purposefully open." He continues to the Daily Beast, "To say that she’s dead from the photo is ridiculous because you can say that about almost any head photo. You have to use evidence." And another forensic pathologist says a low-resolution photo will never be capable of providing that evidence. "From just looking at a photo, there are no signs."