John McAllister, star of Netflix’s Unlocked A Jail Experiment, has passed away at the age of 29.
He was discovered unresponsive in his cell at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on June 2 and was declared dead after being rushed to Jefferson Regional Medical Center at 8:50am. Officials have dismissed any foul play or self-harm in McAllister’s sudden demise, which happened just a month before his scheduled release.
Unlocked: A Jail Experiment, which hit Netflix in April, highlighted an innovative social experiment at Pulaski County Regional Detention Center where prisoners were granted more liberty and duties. McAllister, fondly referred to as “Eastside”, won over audiences with his knack for finding humour in challenging circumstances and his entrepreneurial spirit, even setting up a tattoo business during the show.
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With a decade-long history of brushes with the law and 14 jail sentences, McAllister was serving time for numerous crimes including 10 drug-related felonies, burglary, theft, and illegal firearm possession at the time of his passing.
(Image: Netflix)
Throughout the series, he showed a genuine desire to make amends and start afresh. “His sudden passing has left our family devastated,” McAllister’s aunt, Melissa Regan, disclosed on a GoFundMe page created for his memorial service expenses, reports the Mirror.
The brains behind Unlocked: A Jail Experiment is none other than Sheriff Eric Higgins of Pulaski County. At the Netflix Tudum Festival, Higgins shared his blueprint for overhauling the jail system.
“How do we make the facility safer, and what can we do to still hold them accountable but empower them at the same time?” he mused. During an NAACP Q&A in Jacksonville, Florida, on April 10, Higgins talked about his goals for transforming the detention centre.
(Image: Netflix)
“I want to humanise people. I want to empower people to have an impact on their culture, environment, and community,” he asserted.
However, some have slammed the docu-series as exploitative. Justice of the Peace Phil Stowers from District 13 voiced his concerns to Fox 16, asking: “It’s not a question as to whether or not the sheriff has the ability to try something out of the box, something new in the jail. The questions and concerns are why did that have to turn into a reality TV show?”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
