The family of Larry Price Jr. is seeking justice after he died at the western Arkansas county jail pending trial.
Larry Price Jr. was detained for a finger gun gesture
Larry died in August 2021 while in custody at a Sebastian County facility on a “crime of making terroristic threats,” Fox News report.
More specifically, this allegation involved Larry – who was homeless at the time and described as having a history of mental illness – walking into the Fort Smith Police Department and pointing a gun at officers.
As a result, Larry was held and held captive for over a year, and he was eventually held in solitary confinement until his death from malnutrition and dehydration.
Lawsuit accuses authorities of callously letting Larry ‘waste’
Last Friday, Larry’s family filed a lawsuit alleging the prison did not take appropriate action to save his life.
In the lawsuit, the family specifically alleges that—after Larry refused to take his requested medication—the establishment simply stopped treatment and stopped addressing his mental health needs. . In return, the family said Larry’s health was allowed to deteriorate until his weight dropped from 185 to 90 pounds.
It was also alleged that “security personnel witnessed him wasting away” while being “indifferent to his life-threatening medical and mental health needs”.
“Larry Price endured the excruciating pain of an untreated mental disorder for months on end as prison health and security staff watched him languish— indifference to his life-threatening medical and mental health needs and the cruelty of his detention.”
In addition, the lawsuit calls attention to issues of overcrowding and understaffing, which have been noted in previous inspections.
In response to the lawsuit, Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz noted that an internal review is underway. He also noted, “The county places a top priority on the safety of everyone in our prison. We have medical staff ready to treat inmates in need of care.”
Olan C. James III, president of the NAACP Branch of Sebastian County, also addressed the issue, according to Record of Southwest Times.
“The Sebastian County NAACP branch was informed of Mr Price’s death shortly after it occurred. We hope that the Price family will receive the answers they so deeply deserve in light of the circumstances surrounding the death of their loved one.”
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