Hospitalization order for black man who died in cell never processed, report says

Source: The Guardian

Hospitalization order for black man who died in cell never processed, report says

Court requests that Jamycheal Mitchell and other prisoners
be transferred to a Virginia hospital for mental health treatment
reportedly forgotten in desk drawer

Jon Swaine
Monday 21 March 2016 20.45 GMT

A young black man who spent more than three months in a Virginia jail for stealing $5 worth of snacks died in his cell after a judge’s order for his hospitalization was placed in a drawer by medical officials – and forgotten.

Jamycheal Mitchell never even made it on to the waiting list for a hospital bed and a requested mental health evaluation was not carried out, it emerged on Monday, as an official report on his death identified serious failures by public authorities.

According to the report, an unnamed staff member at Eastern State hospital was “astonished and distraught” to find the court order requesting treatment for Mitchell sitting in a file inside a desk drawer, five days after the 24-year-old’s death in August last year.

Up to a dozen similar orders for other prisoners needing treatment were also found unprocessed in the drawer.

The Guardian revealed last summer that Mitchell was found dead in his cell at Hampton Roads regional jail almost four months after being arrested for stealing a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake from a 7-Eleven store in Portsmouth.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/jamycheal-mitchell-died-jail-cell-eastern-state-hospital-order