Jamycheal Mitchell was thought of as a funny, smiling young man in the small community of Portsmouth, Virginia. His aunt, Roxanne Adams, said that when she was able to see his remains, she struggled to identify him.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
“His body failed,” said Roxanne Adams, Mitchell’s aunt. “It is extraordinary. The person I saw deceased was not even the same person.” Adams, who is a registered nurse, said Mitchell had practically no muscle mass left by the time of his death.
The family, who has said they will sue, are still struggling with the fact that their relative lies dead for the crime of stealing around $5 worth of food from a local store.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
Adams said prison officials said her nephew had also been declining to eat. She said she saw Mitchell in court in recent weeks and estimated that he had lost 65 pounds since being detained. “He was extremely emaciated,” said Adams.
The aunt said relatives had not been able to visit Mitchell because he had not given jail officials their names as approved visitors. “His mind was gone because he wasn’t taking his meds, so he didn’t have a list for anyone to see him,” she said.
Mitchell had struggled with treatment of bipolar disorder, and had been arrested before, all for petty offenses. There were no crimes in his past that indicated harm to another being, and more importantly, death by starvation is not a penalty enforced in the United States legal code and would for many fall into the category of "cruel and unusual punishment".
Like many who struggled with mental health issues as a later teen, those around Mitchell noticed the changes from his childhood, and loved him and wanted to help him.
His sister, Jasmine Adams, posted on her facebook:
Our family and friends had to swallow the hardest pill we ever had to swallow in life! They took a good be away from us! If it’s one thing jamycheal made sure he did, he was gonna put a smile on your face….no matter what, he touched soooo many ppl & he didn’t even know it. It’s gonna take a long time for our hearts to heal and for us to accept it but we are taking it one day at a time cause we know that God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers… Rest on Lil Brother (Jamycheal) I guess God needed you more than we did. But now we know you’re in a place where there is no more struggles and no more pain. Every time I look up I know your there and we know your ok and we couldn’t have asked for Anything more. You got your wings Jamycheal!
This issue crosses multiple boundaries. It is another moment for us to remember #blacklivesmatters.
For mental health advocates, it is a reminder that many have died in jail cells while not receiving treatment. In January, I wrote that a part of the American dream was dying when a mentally ill person would be left without a bed for so long that he committed suicide in his jail cell.
Now, another person who was diagnosed and needing help was left to lose 65 pounds, and, according to family, left to starve to death.