Larry Pippion didn’t have a regular father-son relationship growing up with his father, Larry Earvin, but he knows he was a quiet and intelligent man.
It wasn’t until Pippion was a teenager that he learned that his father was schizophrenic and bipolar.
“He always came and fetched me,” said Pippion, now 49. “It was seventh grade when I was 13 and what not,” when he found out about his father’s mental health.
Because of his condition, Earvin decided to live elsewhere and fight life alone, away from his family in Chicago, Pippion said.
“He was always in and out of facilities,” said Pippion.
Pippion often passed years without hearing from his father and learned how he was doing from members of his family.
“It was about 15 years since I hadn’t heard from him,” he said.
But when he heard from his father, usually one of his cousins, “it was a happy moment,” said Pippion.
During one of Earvin’s hospital stays, he stole life-changing items from a hospital gift shop in Chicago.
“He was charged with theft of $ 300,” Pippion said. “He was sentenced to six years in prison.”
Pippion wished authorities knew his father had mental health problems, he said, adding that a six-year sentence was too severe for the crime.
“It’s not even worth going to jail,” he said. “Six years.”
Earvin, 65, was in the Western Illinois Correctional Facility in Brown County when he was attacked on May 17, 2018 while being transferred to another unit at the facility. He suffered multiple broken ribs, a colon puncture, and other internal injuries. He died of these injuries on June 26, 2018.
Earvin was only months away from his release after serving his six-year prison sentence.
Three prison officials were charged with the attack. Todd Sheffler from Mendon, Alex Banta from Quincy, and Willie Hedden from Mount Sterling have all been charged with death related charges. Hedden has since pleaded guilty to bringing federal civil rights charges; Sheffler and Banta are due to be tried on November 3rd. Both are charged with conspiracy, disenfranchisement and obstruction of justice.
Pippion didn’t even know his father was in jail.
“The hospital called and said he died because he was beaten,” Pippion said. “I thought they were other prisoners, but when I found out they were prison guards, I was furious.”
Three years later, Pippion and his family are still demanding justice for Earvin, not because of the settlement money but because of sheer justice.
“No amount would make me happy. It wouldn’t bring my father back, ”Pippion said, adding that he has three grown children who will never have a chance to meet their grandfather. “They want justice too.”
“I just want justice …” said Pippion. “Everything the judge decides.”
The frustration of Pippion’s family doesn’t stop with him and his sons. Other family members share their anger over Earvin’s death, especially because they don’t even know where he is buried.
“I have an aunt in southern Illinois who knows the cemetery (where Earvin is buried) but when they left the lady was so busy she didn’t have time to show them,” said Pippion, adding, that Earvin is buried with an unmarked tombstone. “To this day, nobody knows … they did all of this without notifying us.”
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