This article is about 8 years old

State agencies’ reports into Va. inmate’s death scrutinized

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two state agencies’ reports into the death of a mentally ill Virginia inmate have come under scrutiny over whether their investigations were thorough enough.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1MSDXqO) reports that neither the report from the inspector general’s office nor one from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services included interviews with Portsmouth General District Court employees, who were supposed to send the judge’s initial order for the transfer of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell to a state mental hospital in May.

Mitchell was found dead in his Portsmouth jail cell in August after losing so much weight his heart stopped. State investigators said Mitchell’s name wasn’t on a waiting list for a bed at a state mental hospital, even though a judge had ordered him to be sent there.

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com

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