The American magazine Newsweek erupted a major scandal represented by the death of a black-skinned American detainee with mental illness in a solitary cell in a prison, where he was forced to eat his feces and drink his urine after he became severely hungry and thirsty as a result of the neglect he suffered from.

The magazine said that Larry Eugene Price was a well-known face to the Arkansas police, and despite his mental illness, he was arrested in the summer of 2020 after he pointed his finger in the shape of a gun, threatening to kill those in a police station.

He was then taken to a detention centre, as it was impossible for the police to calm him or speak to him due to his illness and inability to discern.

Larry Price was able to obtain his freedom in return for paying a bail set at $ 100, but he remained in prison because he was destitute, in addition to being unable to discriminate.

It was simple - , Larry Eugene Price, Jr.

would have been free with $100 for bail, but he was destitute.

He died a year later in jail, @EricFerk reports.

"He was awaiting trial the whole time — for a crime that he wasn't mentally capable of committing." https://t.co/tynKrZwmlO

— Michael Scott Davidson (@ByMSDavidson) January 13, 2023

Tragic death

And only a year later - Newsweek confirms - Larry was found dead in his solitary cell, skinny, naked, in a pool of stagnant water soiled with feces and urine.

The magazine quoted family lawyer Eric Hept as saying that he was dismayed when he learned that a man with a mental illness who could not pay his bail had been arrested for a whole year, noting that he was not serving a sentence but was waiting all the time for a trial for a crime he was not mentally capable of committing.

Hibbit added that what happened with Larry reveals the catastrophe of the American sponsorship system, "which punishes the poor," highlighting that Larry Price did not harm anyone, but was in dire need of help, but instead he was arrested and transferred to solitary confinement for a full year.

Although the official authorities confirmed that the cause of Larry's death was malnutrition and dehydration, no investigation was opened to reveal any criminal circumstances. Rather, there was a kind of agreement that what happened was a "common matter" and there was no criminal suspicion surrounding it.

The magazine confirmed that an internal investigation was opened in the detention center where Larry Price died, after learning that the magazine intended to publish its journalistic investigation.

Larry Eugene Price, Jr.

(on the left here) arrested and jailed August 19, 2020 for POINTING HIS FINGER at cops.

Held on cash bail in Sebastian County, AR.

Died in solitary confinement-trapped there FOR OVER A YEAR.

He weighed 90 pounds when he died.

https://t.co/cZ7RF1ZD1y https://t.co/9qcTCN0npy pic.twitter.com/NcrKbhTc7d

— Mallory Langston (@primnimproper_) January 13, 2023

An unprecedented disaster

Prison reform expert Kathy Fontenot told NEWSWEEK that she had never seen a more catastrophic case in her career than Larry Price, and said the treatment of the young American was unacceptable even with a dog.

Larry's brother, Rodney, said the family had been forbidden to visit him in prison and were denied access to details of his condition.

Regarding the non-payment of bail for his brother, he stated that he believed that his brother's presence in the detention center would guarantee him proper nutrition, special medical care, and a roof to shelter him.

The family is pursuing judicially all those involved in the death of Larry Price, a death that shed light on the prison system in the United States of America, where it is estimated that there are more than two million prisoners there, and many die that the federal government does not know their exact number, according to sources who spoke to Newsweek.