In 2012, Tyler Haire, age 16 at the time, stabbed his father’s girlfriend with a kitchen knife. A judge ordered a psychological evaluation before a trial could take place. For the next four years, Tyler awaited his evaluation in a small town jailhouse. During his stay, he was not visited by mental heath professionals, or even by family other than a few visits from his mother when she could afford the gas to drive from Alabama. The evaluation concluded that he was competent to stand trial and Tyler pled guilty and received a seven year sentence with credit for time served. I traveled to Mississippi with writer, Sarah Smith to talk to the people involved with Tyler’s story to see how the state could have failed him so miserably, and what could be done to prevent similar cases from continuing to happen in Mississippi.
