The state’s top health official said someone should have the authority to get to the bottom of how Jamycheal Mitchell died alone in a Portsmouth jail cell 10 months ago, but the agencies under his purview do not have the authority for that undertaking.
Dr. William A. Hazel Jr., Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources, said the Virginia State Police should investigate the death of the 24-year-old mentally ill man being held on a petty theft charge.
Hazel sat down with the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Thursday to talk about Mitchell’s case as details were emerging of the death of another mentally ill inmate last month. This time, a woman died less than 24 hours after she was transferred to a state mental hospital from the same Portsmouth jail where Mitchell died.
It’s unclear if any agencies will investigate the death of the woman, whom the state has declined to identify because of federal privacy laws.
Click on the headline to read the full story. ~ Richmond Times-Dispatch
