The failure to investigate Mitrice’s death properly is not just an oversight. It is an injustice that reflects broader issues within the justice system. The department’s reluctance to reopen the case and provide clear, honest answers only deepens the pain for Mitrice’s family and community, who deserve transparency and accountability.
Last week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris launched a criminal investigation into the sheriff’s department for the death of Mitrice Richardson, whose body was found 11 months after being released from an L.A. County jail in 2010. The decision came three months after Harris initially decided no such investigation was necessary. Representatives from the AG’s office declined to give a reason for the change.
This past summer saw the deaths of five Black women in police custody across the U.S. The deaths were a jolt to the collective Black community already reeling from the seemingly rampant (and unending) police shootings of unarmed Black men nationwide. Here in Los Angeles, the deaths of those five Black women preceded an anniversary in another young Black woman’s death after being in the custody of law enforcement: Mitrice Richardson.