A father longs to know how his mentally ill son went blind and deaf in state custody. Aaron Richardson Jr., now 29, talks to voices in his head at his father’s bail bond business in St. Petersburg. Junior has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was arrested for carjacking in 2011. While in custody he lost both his sight and hearing. He was released to his family in 2014 without an explanation. This story is based on thousands of pages of records that detail Junior’s three-year stay in Broward County jails and Florida mental hospitals. ‘You think, man he’s young and is this like going to be every day?’ said his father.’I wish I could have known what was going on. I didn’t see this stuff coming. I could have been there.’ He said his goal was for Junior to one day see and hear again, to meet someone and start a family. ‘Doctors have told me he’ll never see again, every one of them,’ he said. ‘But they don’t have the last say. God does.’
ZUMAland.com 