SEBASTIAN COUNTY, Ark. — County officials approved $3 million to be set aside for a possible lawsuit settlement in the case of Larry Price Jr., a man who died while in custody at the Sebastian County Jail after "cruel and inhumane" treatment.
In January 2023, Price's family filed a federal lawsuit against the county, its medical provider Turn Key Health, and select jail employees after he died while in solitary confinement.
"He was ignored to death," said Seattle Attorney Hank Balson, the lawyer representing Larry Price Jr’s estate.
Price died in August 2021 while awaiting his court date.
Balson and Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion had conflicting stories about what led up to his death.
"The jail medical staff were in regular contact with him," Runion said during a video statement sent to 5NEWS in 2023 after the lawsuit was filed.
Arkansas State Police and the Sebastian County prosecutor looked into Price's death. While his autopsy listed his cause of death as malnutrition and dehydration, both found no one in the case acted criminally.
"We see a lot of horrific mistreatment in jails and prisons," Balson said. "And this is among the worst."
Before he was booked into jail, Price weighed about 185 pounds.
According to the lawsuit, Fort Smith EMS estimated his weight was 90 pounds when he died, but the autopsy recorded his weight at 121 pounds.
"They had a constitutional duty, let alone a moral duty, to not let him just suffer," Balson said.
Price was arrested in August 2020 after Fort Smith Police said he entered the police department and threatened officers. He was arrested on a terroristic threatening charge. The court ordered him to pay $1,000 in bail before he could be released. Price remained in jail for a year.
Because he died before his court date, Price was never convicted of the crime.
"Mr. Price spent the next year in jail, not convicted of any crime, just waiting for most of that year, despite his dire need of urgent psychiatric care," the lawsuit stated.
During his year spent in custody at the Sebastian County Jail, Price, who had a history of serious mental illness, was in solitary confinement.
The lawsuit states staff conducted more than 4,000 well-being checkups in the month leading up to Price's death. Each of the check-ups stating the same thing: "Inmate and Cell OK."
"Nobody can look at the window of a cell and see a person who looks like that and not recognize an emergent problem," Balson said. He said Price was neglected while in jail. On August 29, 2021, medical staff found Price "unresponsive in a pool of standing water and urine."
"Let me be clear," Runion told 5NEWS in 2023. "The jail staff gave this inmate plenty of food and water every day."
5NEWS reached out to Runion after the Sebastian County Quorum Court approved the appropriation of funds for the settlement. The sheriff's office said due to litigation, Runion couldn't comment on the approval.
The county officials voted to unanimously approve the $3 million appropriation ordinance on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz's office said this decision was only about the appropriation of funds, and matters aren't settled yet officially. He said the money will be used by the county’s attorneys to negotiate their portion of the settlement.
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