Gus Deeds was given an psychologicalhealth evaluation yesterday under a an emergency custody order yesterday, but he was released because there were no beds available:
State Sen. Creigh Deeds was stabbed multiple times early today at his Bath County home and his son, Gus, is dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gus Deeds had been released Monday following a mental health evaluation performed under an emergency custody order, an official said.
………
Dennis Cropper, executive director of the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the emergency custody order, or ECO, allowed Gus Deeds to be held as long as four hours to determine whether he should be kept longer, up to 48 hours, under a temporary detention order.
The son was evaluated Monday at Bath Community Hospital, Cropper said, but was released because no psychiatric bed could be located across a wide area of western Virginia.
Thank you Ronald Reagan for
gutting federal funding for mental health.
Even 25 years later, Reagan's legacy is one of cruelty, failure, and despair.