Little Rock, Arkansas. — A western Arkansas county and a health care provider have agreed to a $6 million settlement with the family of a man who died of dehydration and malnutrition while in custody at a local jail, an attorney for the family said Thursday.
Sebastian County and Turn Key Health Clinics LLC have each agreed to pay $3 million to the family of Larry Eugene Price Jr. to settle a lawsuit filed following Price’s death in 2021, attorney Erik Heipt said in a news release.
“The magnitude of this settlement reflects the magnitude of the atrocity that took place,” Heipt said. “We were honored to represent Mr. Price’s family in their pursuit of justice, and we hope this historic outcome sends a strong message to every prison and correctional facility in America that this type of blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”
A Turn Key spokesperson confirmed the company had agreed to the settlement. The Sebastian County Court voted to settle the lawsuit last month. An attorney for the county did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Price died after spending just over a year in custody at the facility while awaiting trial on terrorist threats. Price, 51, who had a history of serious mental illness, had been held in solitary confinement at the county facility, according to his family’s lawsuit filed last year.
“Because he could not post the $1,000 bail that would have allowed him to remain free while awaiting his day in court, Mr. Price spent the next year in jail, without being convicted of any crime, just waiting,” the lawsuit says.
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The lawsuit filed against Sebastian County accuses the jail and Turn Key of neglecting Price, who ate and drank less over the course of a year and whose weight dropped from 185 pounds to 90 pounds. The complaint included autopsy photos of Price’s emaciated body.
Jail staff stopped Price’s mental health medication after he refused to take it and made no effort to follow up with the inmate to address his mental health needs, the lawsuit says.
Turn Key said in a statement that at the time of Price’s death, it was providing medical care and eight hours of psychiatric services per week, but not acute mental health counseling or counseling services. It said the center had a contract with the county to provide mental health counseling services but failed to honor those commitments with Price.
“Following Mr. Price’s death, Turn Key and Sebastian County agreed that having a separate mental health counseling provider from the jail’s medical and psychiatric provider was not in the best interest of SCDC patients,” spokeswoman Kenna Griffin said. “Turn Key now provides all medical, mental health counseling and psychiatric services in Sebastian County.”
Rodney Price, Larry Price’s brother, called his brother’s death “inexcusable” but hoped the case and settlement would lead to changes in the criminal justice system.
“While no amount of money could bring my brother back to life, this victory will help our family find closure,” Rodney Price said in a statement. “And we hope and pray that it will lead to changes in how our prisons treat those in their custody and save lives in the future.”
