Larry Price Jr.: Starvation, Neglect, and a $6M Settlement

Larry Price Jr. died of starvation and dehydration inside the Sebastian County jail in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on August 29, 2021, after more than a year of pretrial solitary confinement he endured only because he could not pay a $1,000 bail. He was 51, severely mentally ill, and charged with a felony he was not mentally capable of understanding. His weight had fallen from 185 pounds at booking to as low as 90 pounds. In 2024, his family settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against Sebastian County and its jail healthcare contractor, Turn Key Health Clinics, for $6 million.¹

Who Larry Price Jr. Was

Price was born and raised in Fort Smith. His brother Rodney described him as a “big, gentle giant” who loved basketball, fishing, and dancing. He also carried a stack of serious diagnoses: paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and an intellectual developmental disorder with an IQ below 55. He had a long history of involuntary commitments and was often homeless.²³

Sebastian County jail staff knew him. He had been detained there multiple times in 2019 and 2020, and prior records from July and August 2020 described his mental symptoms as “severe” with a “marked impact” on his ability to function. During that earlier stay, he had been prescribed antipsychotic medication.⁴

How He Ended Up in Jail

On August 19, 2020, Price was arrested at the Fort Smith Police Department. In the days leading up to the arrest, he had made repeated visits to the station, appearing agitated and irrational. That day he yelled and cursed at officers, held out his empty hand as if it were a gun, and pulled an imaginary trigger while making verbal threats. He was charged with terroristic threatening in the first degree, a felony. Bail was set at $1,000.⁵

He could not pay it. He stayed locked up awaiting trial, and jail staff placed him in solitary confinement almost immediately because of his mental state. His family later said they had expected him to receive care while in custody.¹

What Happened Inside the Cell

Two days after booking, a Turn Key nurse flagged an “urgent” psychiatric referral. On September 1, 2020, the jail’s chief mental health officer, Dr. Jawaun Lewis, documented that Price was “actively psychotic” and prescribed Abilify.⁴

Then, on November 24, 2020, Dr. Lewis abruptly discontinued all of Price’s mental health medications, reporting that Price had refused to be seen or take his pills. According to the lawsuit, Lewis never followed up. For the remaining nine months of his life, Price received no psychotropic medication and no mental health treatment.³

He decompensated in the cell. Staff observed him spitting, cursing, throwing trash, flinging feces and bodily fluids, barking, rolling on the floor, and rambling incoherently. Medical staff were notified that he was eating his own feces and drinking his own urine. His weight, 185 pounds at booking, was around 150 pounds by January 2021 and kept falling as he ate and drank less. The lawsuit alleged that jail personnel continued logging routine wellness checks as “Well-Being Check Inmate and Cell OK” throughout.³

The jail’s medical services were also fragmented. Turn Key provided medical care and eight hours per week of psychiatric services. A separate, unnamed contractor was responsible for mental health counseling. According to the lawsuit, that contractor failed to deliver counseling to Price.¹

How He Died

At approximately 1:35 a.m. on August 29, 2021, guards found Price unresponsive in his cell, lying in a pool of his own urine and contaminated water. He was pronounced dead. Reported weights at that point ranged from 90 to 121 pounds.⁶³

The Arkansas State Crime Lab ruled the cause of death acute dehydration and malnutrition. Price had also tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of examination, but the virus was not listed as the cause. The manner of death was classified as “natural.”⁶

After Price was dead, jail records showed that staff continued to mark his cell logs “Well-Being Check Inmate and Cell OK” ten more times.⁶

Why No One Was Charged

The Arkansas State Police investigated. On January 5, 2022, Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue wrote to the state police that there was “no basis to prosecute anyone or any entity.” Shue said he had personally reviewed the entire file, including staff interviews, police reports, the autopsy, and jail video. He cited “the totality of the circumstances,” Price’s “numerous medical issues” including his positive COVID-19 test, and the “Natural” manner of death.⁷³

Sebastian County Sheriff Hobe Runion initially suggested COVID-19 may have been responsible, a claim that contradicted the Crime Lab’s findings. The sheriff’s office said it was conducting an internal review; no public results have been reported.⁶

Erik Heipt, the attorney the family later retained, called Price’s death a “travesty of justice.” Cathy Fontenot, a corrections expert with 30 years of experience who reviewed the case, called it “obvious neglect” and said, “you wouldn’t treat a dog in the pound like that. It’s the worst case I’ve ever seen.”³

No criminal charges have been filed against any Sebastian County employee or Turn Key staff member in connection with Price’s death.⁸

The $6 Million Settlement

On January 13, 2023, Price’s estate, through his brother Rodney as special administrator, filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. The case, The Estate of Larry Eugene Price, Jr. v. Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC (Case No. 2:23-cv-02008), was brought by the Seattle firm Budge & Heipt. Defendants included Turn Key, Sebastian County, Dr. Jawaun Lewis, and a Turn Key nurse named Christeena Ferguson. The complaint alleged Fourteenth Amendment violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 along with state claims for wrongful death and medical negligence.⁸⁹

The case was set for a May 2024 jury trial, but a settlement was reached before then. On August 20, 2024, the Sebastian County Quorum Court voted to approve the county’s share. The total, announced publicly on September 12, 2024, was $6 million, split evenly between Sebastian County and Turn Key at $3 million each. Neither defendant admitted wrongdoing. The case was formally terminated on October 11, 2024.¹¹⁰

Heipt said in a statement that “the size of this settlement reflects the magnitude of the atrocity that occurred.” In a letter sent during negotiations, his firm noted that judgments in comparable cases had ranged between $8.3 million and $95 million.¹¹

Rodney Price called his brother’s death “inexcusable” and said, “this victory will help give our family some closure as we move forward. 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.”¹

What Changed After Price’s Death

Turn Key consolidated its services at the Sebastian County facility. A company spokesperson said Turn Key now provides all medical, mental health counseling, and psychiatric services directly, rather than relying on a separate contractor for counseling, calling the previous arrangement “not in the best interests of patients.” Sebastian County Judge Steve Hotz said the sheriff’s office “has made changes in the jail in an effort to prevent this type of tragedy from happening again.” Officials have not detailed those changes publicly.¹⁷

1
CBS News. Larry Price Jr. Death Settlement
2
Southwest Times Record. The Life of Larry Price Jr. as Described by His Family
3
Newsweek. Starved to Death in an American Jail
4
Washington Post. Price Complaint Document
5
Prison Legal News. Unable to Post Bail, Detainee Starves to Death in Arkansas Jail
6
ABC News. Arkansas Detainee Died of Starvation, Neglect, Lawsuit Claims
7
Talk Business & Politics. $6 Million Settlement Finalized in Sebastian County Jail Death Case
8
CourtListener. The Estate of Larry Eugene Price Jr. v. Turn Key Health Clinics LLC
9
Justia. Estate of Larry Eugene Price Jr. v. Turn Key Health Clinics LLC
10
Arkansas Times. Family of Man Who Starved to Death in Jail Gets Multimillion Dollar Settlement
11
Talk Business & Politics. Settlement Could Happen Soon in Sebastian County Jail Death Case