FAYETTEVILLE -- A Springdale man accused of killing his parents was released from the state hospital in June after a doctor said he did not suffer from mental illness, according to a report from the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Dustin Price, 28, showed "no signs of psychosis" during his monthlong stay at the Arkansas State Hospital, the report said.
Instead, the evaluation found Price's "primary issue is substance abuse," which has resulted in "conflict with the law, loss of social function ... and the dissolution of the relationship with his family."
Price is accused of fatally stabbing his mother and stepfather, Theresa and Jim Hendershot, early Friday and injuring another person. He faces preliminary charges of capital murder, first-degree battery, third-degree assault and burglary. He is being held at the Washington County jail without bond.
On Monday, District Court Judge Ray Reynolds gave Price an arraignment date of Sept. 28 in Washington County Circuit Court.
Price has a history of mental illness and run-ins with the law in Benton and Washington counties. He was acquitted at least twice of crimes because of a mental disease or defect.
He didn't report to his probation officer after being released from the state hospital, which prompted the Benton County Circuit Court to issue an arrest warrant Aug. 11. The probation is related to a 2012 conviction on drug charges that resulted in a 10-year suspended sentence.
A mental evaluation in 2012 for a 2007 fleeing and aggravated assault case in Washington County diagnosed Price with schizoaffective disorder. Schizoaffective disorder shows itself as a sort of blend of typical schizophrenia symptoms, such as seeing or hearing things that aren't real, with a mood disorder like depression or manic behavior, according to the Mayo Clinic and the National Alliance on Mental Health.
The disorder can be effectively managed with therapy and medication, but as with other mental illnesses it can lead to substance abuse or other problems if untreated, according to the health care groups.
According to the report from Health and Human Services, Price started abusing drugs and alcohol when he was 15 and was expelled from school because of fighting and substance abuse.
Price's stints in the state hospital and county jails over the past 12 years were the only extended periods he was sober, the report said. Price preferred marijuana but "has used every substance imaginable," adding cocaine and prescription opiates in recent years, the report said.
Springdale police did not request a toxicology report on Price after he was arrested, according to Capt. Ron Hritz, spokesman for the department.
Springdale police said Price broke into his mother's home at 2306 Sandy St. about 2:30 a.m. Friday. Police went to the home after Price's mother called 911 and said her son had stabbed her husband. They found the Hendershots on the floor, unresponsive with stab wounds and blunt force trauma injuries, according to reports.
Price's criminal history includes arrests for assault, battery and threatening dating to 2007, court documents show. He also was committed in the state hospital five times since 2007.
Price was charged with aggravated assault after a high-speed chase March 13, 2007, that involved members of the Springdale Police Department and the Arkansas State Police.
Price was eventually charged with aggravated assault, but not until Feb. 13, 2009. The charge was subsequently dropped in April 2009 because Price was confined to the state hospital.
Washington County Circuit Judge William Storey dismissed fleeing and failure to appear charges on May 11, 2012, based on a court-ordered mental examination. Storey acquitted Price by reason of mental disease or defect.
A month earlier, Theresa Hendershot posted bail for her son after he was arrested on a charge of failure to appear in the case. A condition of the bond was that he live with her.
Price assaulted a deputy at the Benton County jail in 2014 but was acquitted after a psychologist found he had a mental disease and didn't have the capacity "to appreciate the criminality of his conduct," court documents show.
Price wrote a letter to Benton County Judge Brad Karren in 2014 asking to be released because he had been without his medication while in jail. Price wrote that without his medications, he was susceptible to another "psychotic episode." Karren released him a couple of weeks later.
State Desk on 08/30/2016