Family Of Jamycheal Mitchell Reaches $3 Million Settlement, Hampton Roads Regional Jail Being Investigated
The family of a Virginia man who died in jail has been granted a settlement. Jamycheal Mitchell passed away at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia, on August 19, 2015. He was behind bars for months after he was arrested on charges of trespass and petit larceny for allegedly stealing a 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew, a king size Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake which accumulated to about $5 worth of snacks from a 7-Eleven.
The Appeal recently released an extensive story about Jamycheal’s alleged abuse in the jail. The website notes that Jaymycheal was ordered to receive mental health treatment after he was declared unfit to stand trial. The Virginia man had a history of severe mental disability including a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder.
The treatment did not happen however and he was incarcerated at the Portsmouth correctional facility up until his death. He was allegedly treated poorly all the way up to his demise.
“While incarcerated at the jail, correctional officers allegedly struck Mitchell on the knuckles with a flashlight, hurled profanities, mocked him, and called him “dirty,” all as punishment for being uncooperative. When Mitchell was found dead in his cell in August 2015, he was covered in urine. Portsmouth’s chief medical examiner said the cause of death was a “probable cardiac arrhythmia accompanying wasting syndrome of unknown etiology.”
His family settled lawsuits against the jail and NaphCare, the company that provided medical services for the jail, for approximately $3 million.
Now Hampton Roads Regional jail is continuing to be investigated and the DOJ threatened to sue them if they did not improve conditions in particular for those with mental health issues.
The DOJ also criticized the incarceration of 62 people with severe mental illness at Hampton Roads who had booking histories of “minor offenses,” such as shoplifting, trespassing, and violating their probation.
Unfortunately, the DOJ’s yet to take action, a delay that could possibly be in part because of the government shutdown.
The Appeal reports;
“In its December 2018 report, the DOJ gave the jail just over a month and a half to implement its recommendations. The agency also said it would sue if the jail did not “satisfactorily” improve its conditions during that time period. But when the deadline passed in February, the federal government had just emerged from the longest shutdown in history. As of early this month, the DOJ had not followed through on its threat to sue Hampton Roads. (The agency did not respond to The Appeal’s request for comment.) The jail continues to work with the DOJ on its recommendations, Hackworth said.
He told The Appeal that he is awaiting more clarity from the agency on its more than 40 recommended remediations, such as auditing of administrative records regularly for completeness and accuracy, ensuring there are improved intake screenings and health assessments, and ending restrictive housing for people who say they are suicidal.”
Now The Virginian Pilot reports that an unfortunate fight has broken out between Jamychael’s family members for the settlement money. Jamycheal’s mother’s side of the family is reportedly fighting with his father’s side.
“The mother’s side argues they were closer to Jamycheal and deserve most, if not all, of the money. The mother believes she should receive the “majority,” with the half sister receiving a “reasonable” portion. The maternal half-sister wants an equal split between the two.
The father’s side said they were all equally close to him. Therefore, they believe they should all receive equal portions: about $215,000 a person.
We pray that Jamycheal’s family finds some middle ground and that the DOJ continues to look into a facility where 68 in-custody deaths took place between 2003 and 2018.
