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State Police to investigate new allegations in HRRJ inmate death case

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WVEC) -- The Commonwealth's Attorney is asking Virginia State Police to investigate new allegations made surrounding Jamycheal Mitchell's death at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail. 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WVEC) -- The Commonwealth's Attorney is asking Virginia State Police to investigate new allegations made surrounding Jamycheal Mitchell's death at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail.

Mitchell died at the jail back in August 2015.

Portsmouth's Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney received new allegations on Friday. It is unclear what those allegations are.

The jail Superintendent Ronaldo Myers released the following statement to 13News Now on the new investigation:

We appreciate the thoroughness with which the Virginia State Police and the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney are handling this investigation. We will continue to provide our full cooperation to the Virginia State Police and the Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney.

The Justice Department previously launched an investigation into Hampton Roads Regional Jail. The investigation focused on whether the jail violates the constitutional rights of inmates to adequate medical and mental health care.

Once this process is concluded and once all findings have been turned over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney there will be a review and final prosecutorial determination.

James Boyd, President of the Portsmouth NAACP, provided 13News Now with this statement:

The family of JaMycheal Mitchell deserves a complete, independent and comprehensive investigation that spans in scope from JaMycheals initial arrest, the events leading up to his tragic death and the actions or inaction of local and state investigative bodies following his death. We do not have further comment regarding today's announcements at this time however our confidence lies with federal investigators from the Department of Justice at this time.

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