WASHINGTON — Months after a mentally ill man died in jail, the Virginia Inspector General’s office still hasn’t finished its death investigation.
“What a sad situation,” Governor Terry McAuliffe tells WTOP of the case of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell.
He was arrested last April for stealing $5 worth of snack food and sent to the Portsmouth jail.
By August 2015, Mitchell had lost so much weight in jail that his heart stopped.
“I just can’t comprehend that this gentleman was in prison for four months for stealing $5 worth of food,” McAuliffe says.
Before his death, requests were made to get Mitchell to a mental facility, but a report by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services found mistakes were made on the receiving end.
The office of the State Inspector General says its investigation is not yet done.
Several groups have called on McAuliffe to pressure that office to put its report out immediately.
“I’ve said publicly I’d like it done as soon as possible, that’s about as far as I can go,” the governor tells WTOP.
McAuliffe is also calling for a “thorough” investigation.
Asked if the Commonwealth has done enough to address mental health issues, the Governor says, “No, of course not.”
