SAN FRANCISCO – The family of a young woman continues to demand answers about how she died in custody.
On September 3, 22 years old Aamonte Hadley was found unconscious in the San Francisco County Jail.
More than two months later, her family held a candlelight vigil to continue calling for justice ahead of her 23rd birthday later this month.
Her aunt and mother spoke to CBS Bay Area at a candlelight vigil where they continued to call for justice.
“We’re trying to pick up the pieces, but there are no pieces to pick up,” said her aunt, Keisha Hadley.
Hadley had spent nearly two years in a San Francisco County jail cell awaiting trial before she was found dead.
“We have no idea what happened,” Keisha Hadley said. “All I got was a phone call saying she wasn’t responding, we don’t know. We have no idea. Aamonte was a smart, fun, goofy, loving person. She was very helpful, very kind, very generous. cut so short and so quickly for no reason.”
Hadley would have turned 23 on Thanksgiving.
She was arrested in September 2022 and charged with several crimes in connection with a series of armed robberies.
Her aunt says she has no previous offenses and doesn’t understand why she waited so long for trial.
“I don’t understand why bail was taken off the table, we don’t understand that, we don’t know,” Keisha Hadley wondered.
An earlier statement from District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said Hadley was detained ahead of the trial because she posed a potential risk to public safety.
Hadley’s family had advocated for her to be transferred to a mental health facility due to a number of mental health issues. In the same statement, Jenkins said this was not justified in this case.
Hadley’s mother, Aimika Blockman, struggled to make it to the wake.
“I don’t want to be here, that’s the way it is,” Blockman said of attending the vigil. “I don’t want to be here.”
For Blockman, every day is a challenge now that her daughter is no longer here.
“Not good at all,” Blockman said of how she is doing. “Today I got out of bed at 2 o’clock. The next day I didn’t go to work again. I’m trying to stay busy.”
She says not knowing what’s happening makes every day even harder.
The San Francisco Police Department of Accountability, the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office are investigating Hadley’s death.
The family says they have not yet received any details about what happened. Yet they support each other through it.
“Every day is a heartbreak, every day is a heartache that you’re wondering, trying to figure out,” Kiesha said.
The family plans to continue fighting for Hadley and says they are already considering a second autopsy.
CBS Bay Area reached out to the San Francisco Police Department, the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Sheriff’s Office for an update on the case. We haven’t heard anything back yet.
