Incarceration Illness Devastates Family

A local mother received a phone call that all parents dread. Debra Price-Ervin recounted that on November 6, 2023, she received a call from Ochsner-LSU Medical Center informing her that her son, Triney Price, was in critical condition. Like any concerned parent, Ervin said she rushed to the hospital, and upon seeing her son, her heart fell apart. She learned that Triney's condition was worse than feared; hospital personnel allegedly told Ervin that her son had tuberculosis after suffering from a bacterial/fungus infection, and his organs were shutting down. Tubes protruded from his lungs to help him breathe, and a dialysis tube was in his arm because his kidneys had all but shut down. What shocked and upset Ervin was that Triney had been at the hospital since November 2, 2023 without her knowledge. According to Ervin, the 36-year-old had been brought to the hospital by personnel from the Ouachita Correctional Center (OCC) after Triney had become very ill. Ervin alleged that her son was kept on lockdown even after he had complained several times to the staff but allegedly was ignored by them. His condition worsened until he was finally taken to the hospital, where he remained until Wilson was contacted not by someone at OCC but by the hospital.

Ervin said that Triney had been in good health before he was taken to OCC. He was taken there because of a warrant after not being able to secure a date to appear in court. He was being seen on an outpatient basis, being treated for a medical condition where sometimes he had to go out of town to receive treatment. He had been in OCC for about three months before he took ill, as Ervin said he "sounded fine" when she talked to him over the phone. But Ervin said that she is angry/upset with those in charge at OCC because no one had the decency to contact her that her son had become very ill and had to be taken in for medical treatment. As of press time, Ervin said that she still hasn't heard from anyone at OCC, saying that the only time she talked to anyone at the facility was when she called concerning her son's whereabouts, only to be told nothing. She felt it was as if her son didn't matter once he wasn't at OCC anymore. She said that she is very hurt and traumatized by the experience because she felt that her son, being a human being, deserved to be treated better than that. Ervin says it is "extremely difficult" for the family to deal with what is happening with Triney. She said that it is heartbreaking to see her son lying motionless in a hospital bed, even though the doctors and nurses are doing everything using different treatments in hopes that Triney will recover. Nothing has been effective, as Ervin refuses to sign a "do-not-resuscitate" form. Medically speaking, Ervin says that her son is in a coma. She firmly believes that those at OCC should bear the responsibility for what led to her son's health decline and their lack of taking him to a medical facility in a timely manner. Ervin says she fondly remembers seeing Triney at the fair back during the summer full of life. Now she has a memory of him being in a hospital bed because the coma that he is in won't let him do the things that he used to do. Ervin says that she hopes to get some answers soon, but right now, all she can do is pray, hope, keep her faith, and trust in God, knowing that only a miracle can come from Him. The Ervin family also needs the prayers of the community.