The family of 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez is suing the City of Brentwood and several police officers for wrongful death. Ramirez’s supporters rallied outside the Brentwood Police Department on Thursday afternoon. The rally focused on police transparency. At the rally, supporters called on Br entwood police to release police body camera footage from her arrest 98 days ago. Under California law, they are required to release footage of a critical incident within 45 days. “My mother did not die of natural causes,” said Rich Ramirez, Yolanda’s son. The Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office said last week that Ramirez died of “natural causes,” but her husband and children dispute that. “To hear natural causes is kind of a slap in the face,” Rich said. An independent autopsy paid for by the family found serious injuries on Ramirez’s body, and evidence of asphyxiation, according to her son. “That medical examiner did see blunt force trauma, head injuries, skull fracture, also of bruising that she didn’t have when she left the house,” Rich said. Brentwood police have said Yolanda Ramirez was briefly detained but then released for medical care at the scene. “We just want to see what happened to her,” said Melissa Nold, the Ramirez family attorney. Under California law, following a critical incident like Ramirez’s, police body camera footage usually must be released to the public within 45 days. “Their justification for not releasing that is it’s pending investigation which is kind of ridiculous to me because it doesn’t feel like they’re taking it serious,” Rich said. The family is now suing to get that video evidence released, and hold Brentwood police accountable, they believe, for Ramirez’s death. “If everything was done according to the books, what’s the hold up? What are they afraid of? We’re just looking for answers,” said Rudy Ramirez, Yolanda’s husband. ...read more read less