RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Inmates who said they saw correctional officials abuse a 24-year-old mentally ill man at a Virginia jail before his death say they are now being threatened and mistreated.
Jamycheal Mitchell's family filed a lawsuit last month claiming that correctional officials physically abused and withheld food from him before his August death. Medical examiner said Mitchell died of heart failure accompanied by severe weight loss.
In a brief filed this week, Attorney Mark Krudys said inmates named as witnesses in the lawsuit are being threatened and abused by jail officials. Two moved to another jail, but Krudys says they continue to be "taunted, threatened and/or abused" by jail staff. He's asking the judge to issue a protective order.
An attorney for the jail didn't immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
