The 2025 death of a woman following her arrest by Brentwood police officers has been ruled accidental by a coroner’s inquest, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday. An inquest is a process separate from a medical examiner’s probe into an in-custody death and is when a jury reviews witness testimony and determines the manner of the cause of an individual’s death. “The finding of the jury is that the manner of death is accident,” said the sheriff’s office on Wednesday. On Sept. 26, 2025, 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez was arrested by Brentwood Police Officers Aaron Peachman and Danielle Tjhia following a dispute with her sister. One week later, she died. According to the footage, Ramirez, who suffered from diabetes, was allegedly forcibly pushed into the back of a police vehicle by officers after hitting her head on the car, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Ramirez’s family in January. After being left alone for 20 minutes, body camera footage allegedly shows Ramirez was found barely conscious and slumped over when officers returned to check on her. She died following emergency surgery for brain bleed on Oct. 3. Brentwood Feb 27 Brentwood police release body cam video, 911 audio in Yolanda Ramirez incident Brentwood Jan 1 Yolanda Ramirez's family calls for Brentwood police to release incident footage According to the sheriff’s office, jurors were advised to choose between four possible rulings: Accident, suicide, natural causes and “at the hands of another person, other than by accident.” Jurors found that Ramirez’s death happened by accident and was a possible byproduct of someone’s action. Melissa Nold, attorney for Ramirez’s family, said that she’s pleased with the outcome and hopes to see the district attorney pursue charges against Peachman and Tjhia. “With natural causes, it’s almost impossible to file a charge,” she said. “The accidental finding still gives us something for the district attorney to use. You can be held liable.” A coroner’s report released in 2025 concluded that Ramirez died of natural causes, not an accident, according to Nold. Following the coroner’s autopsy, the family ordered a second, independent autopsy funded by the Colin Kaepernick Foundation, which pays for medical examinations of people who have died after police encounters. That autopsy determined Ramirez died of injuries during the arrest, said Nold. ...read more read less