Family of Virginia jail detainee who died awaiting a hospital bed receives $3 million settlement
WTKR reported that the family of Jamycheal Mitchell settled their wrongful-death claims for $3 million with the Hampton Roads Regional Jail Authority and the Commonwealth. Mitchell was arrested in April 2015 for taking about $5 worth of food, was found incompetent to stand trial, and died in the jail in August 2015 while waiting for a state hospital bed.
The station noted that a state health agency's investigation found the judge's transfer order had sat in a file drawer for weeks and was rediscovered five days after his death, and that a 29-page review from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services described miscommunication and failures among city and state agencies. In their joint statement, the parties said his death prompted changes to Virginia's laws on competency restoration and mental health treatment in jails, and that the state agreed to keep the family informed of changes in services for inmates with mental illness.
The settlement resolved the family's legal claims in a case that exposed how a restoration order can stall between a court and a state hospital.
Source: Family of Jamycheal Mitchell awarded $3 million in wrongful death settlement — WTKR (News 3), Norfolk, by Web Staff
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