Man starved to death in jail after he couldn’t afford $100 bond, lawsuit says
The Washington Post, January 14, 2023: Man starved to death in jail after he couldn’t afford $100 bond, lawsuit says
“Iris Price remembers her brother-in-law as a towering figure who despite his size was gentle and loving, especially when it came to his five nieces. Larry Price Jr., 51, was funny, kindhearted and a ‘big guy’ — 6-foot-1 and weighing more than 185 pounds.
“By the time Price died alone in a Sebastian County, Ark., jail cell in 2021, he weighed 121 pounds. Autopsy images show his emaciated body, his cheeks sunken, his collarbones and ribs protruding through his skin and his legs wasted away. The soles of his feet were swollen, white and wrinkled from standing in water in his jail cell.
“Price’s relatives allege in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed Friday in an Arkansas federal court that Price, who was unhoused and lived with severe mental illness, was allowed to starve to death over a year in pretrial detention due to neglect by jail staff and its private health contractor. It names the jail, Turn Key Health Clinics and several staffers — both named and unnamed — as defendants.”
Additional reading:
NPR, January 2, 2023: In county jails, guards use pepper spray, stun guns to subdue people in mental crisis
Vera Institute, December 22, 2022: For Decades, Los Angeles Jailed People with Mental Health Needs. Now, It’s Finally Prioritizing Treatment
The Marshall Project, November 11, 2018: Treatment Denied: The Mental Health Crisis in Federal Prisons
