Man in jail couldn’t pay bail, died of starvation, suit says. Family to get millions

A man who was never convicted of a crime became “visibly emaciated” in a solitary confinement cell until he died of starvation and dehydration at an Arkansas jail, according to a federal lawsuit.

Now, a multimillion-dollar settlement has been reached before the civil case was scheduled to go to trial in December, attorneys representing the family of Larry Eugene Price Jr. announced Sept. 12.

Price, who was experiencing homelessness and was developmentally disabled, was arrested during a mental health crisis at the age of 50 and was detained at the Sebastian County jail in August 2020, a complaint says.

Price couldn’t afford his $1,000 bail and spent the next year and 10 days wasting away — losing nearly 100 pounds — while waiting for his day in court, according to the complaint, McClatchy News previously reported.

The jail’s staff “simply watched from the sidelines as he steadily decompensated,” the complaint says.

The lawsuit brought against Sebastian County and the jail’s contracted health care provider, Turn Key Health Clinics LLC, has now been settled for $6 million, Seattle-based civil rights law firm Budge & Heipt PLLC said in a news release.

The county and Turn Key will each pay Price’s family $3 million — making this the largest jail death settlement in Arkansas, according to the law firm.

“The size of this settlement reflects the magnitude of the atrocity that occurred,” Erik Heipt, one of the lead attorneys, said in a statement.

Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz, who serves as the county government’s chief executive officer, didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Sept. 12.

Kenna Griffin, the communications director for TK Health, confirmed to McClatchy News that the company will pay $3 million as part of the settlement.

Griffin said while Price was incarcerated, “Turn Key provided medical care and eight hours of psychiatric services per week” while the Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center was supposed to provide mental health counseling services but “failed to,” resulting in “Price’s untimely, tragic outcome.”

Following Price’s death, Turn Key started providing all medical, mental health counseling and psychiatric services at the jail, Griffin said.

The Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Sept. 12.

Price’s brother, Rodney Price, said in a statement that “what happened to my brother was inexcusable.”

“No one deserves to be treated the way they treated him,” Rodney Price said.

Larry Eugene Price Jr. was physically healthy — weighing 185 pounds and standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall — when he was booked in jail, according to the lawsuit.

But he had serious mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, and was in need of psychiatric care, the complaint says.

The jail’s staff and medical staff neglected Price as he deteriorated for the next several months, according to the complaint.

“Although they documented his weight loss and the severe symptoms of his mental illness, they did not get him the help he needed,” Budge & Heipt PLLC said in the news release.

Price weighed 90 pounds when he died on Aug. 29, 2021, and had a “morbidly skeletal appearance,” the complaint, which includes photos of his body, says.

Corrections officers found Price unresponsive, without a pulse, lying in water and his own urine in his cell, the complaint says. Then, they called for an ambulance and started CPR.

Due to the amount of liquid in his cell, staff didn’t attempt to revive Price with an automated external defibrillator, according to the complaint.

He was taken to a nearby hospital and immediately pronounced dead, the complaint says.

“While no amount of money could bring my brother back, this victory will help give our family some closure as we move forward,” Rodney Price said. “And we hope and pray that it will lead to changes in how our jails treat people in their custody and will save lives in the future.”

Heipt said the firm hopes the settlement will send “a powerful message to every single jail and prison in America that this type of blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”

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