The heartbreaking before and after photos above tell the terrifying story of 57-year-old Stephen Slevin, a New Mexico man arrested for a DWI and suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. Two years later, he emerges from Dona County Jail a different man—what exactly happened here?
Slevin, now a shadow of his former self, was subjected to 22 months in a solitary confinement "pod" with deplorable conditions, where was largely neglected, despite numerous letter's to the facility's nurse. Slevin often went without his allotted one hour of recreation time and was left alone in his dark cell, where he eventually "fell into a delirium."
His neglect surfaced as bed sores, a fungal condition, and toe nails so long they curled around his feet. Slevin also encountered dental problems, which he was forced to remedy by pulling out his own tooth All of this, without a trial, despite posting his $40,000 bail.
By the time Slevin's family was able to track him down in the court system, Slevin's mental health had declined to the point that he was unfit to participate in his own trial. Slevin's trial resulted a $22 million verdict in his favor, but the inhumane treatment he received can never be accounted for and have left Slevin, in the word of his lawyer, "hollow".
[via MSNBC]
