Longtime Va. mental patient Chumil dies

César Augusto Chumil, 59, a mental patient in Virginia for more than 20 years who spent nearly all of that time in restraints or confined to a specially designed living area, has died.

Chumil died in a Northern Virginia mental health facility earlier this month after being moved there three weeks ago to be near his family, a spokesman for the family said this morning.

“He spent the last three weeks surrounded by his family,“ said Alex R. Gulotta, executive director of the Legal Aid Justice Center in Charlottesville, who had represented Chumil in a years-long effort to move him from Western State Hospital in Staunton.

Gulotta said Chumil died of complications from colon cancer, which had forced his hospitalization earlier this year and delayed his move from Western State to a treatment facility closer to his family in Northern Virginia.

A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, while not identifying Chumil specifically, said this morning that providing the best care for Chumil had always been the objective of his caregivers.

Chumil first entered the state mental health system in December 1981; he was admitted in February 1986 to Western State Hospital, where he remained until his move to the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute three weeks ago.

Chumil, who spoke limited English, had been denied many basic rights, Gulotta and co-counsel Nathan J.D. Veldhuis alleged in years of legal proceedings that sought his release from and better care at Western State; Chumil was part of a federal inquiry into the improper use of restraints a decade ago.

Chumil’s violent behaviors were documented for decades, but his family had always contended that his confinement and treatment angered him. He had been allowed to leave Western State with his family unrestrained for brief shopping trips, but only in recent months did state mental health officials agree to move him to Northern Virginia.

—Bill McKelway