EXCLUSIVE: Aunt of Memphis ‘bipolar schizophrenia’ murder suspect, 29, says he was just released from a mental health hospital overnight, and had been in and out of the facility all his life.
- Larry Pickens, 29, has been charged with first degree murder for shooting surgeon Benjamin Mauck earlier this week.
- His aunt, Louise Pickens, told DailyMail.com that her nephew had just been released from a mental health hospital overnight and “shouldn’t have done it”.
- It also confirms that Pickens suffered from ‘paranoid bipolar schizophrenic disorder’
The aunt of the man accused of shooting Memphis hand surgeon Benjamin Mauck says her nephew had just been released from a mental health hospital before the attack.
Larry Pickens, 29, was charged with first-degree murder for shooting Mauck in the exam room at the Campbell Clinic in Collierville, Tennessee, earlier this week.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the suspect’s aunt, Louise Pickens, said her nephew “was just in a mental institution, they let him out and they shouldn’t have.”
He explained that Pickens suffered from “paranoid bipolar schizophrenic disorder” and that “he thinks that people are after him, that people are doing things to him and everything.”
The concerned relative said that as a result of her condition, Pickens had been in and out of mental health hospitals her entire life.
Larry Pickens, 29, was charged with first-degree murder for shooting Mauck in the exam room at the Campbell Clinic in Collierville, Tennessee, on Tuesday.
Dr. Benjamin Mauck was murdered in his clinic Tuesday afternoon
Louise Pickens said the condition “really got worse when I was in grade 11” and that he had been repeatedly treated at Lakeside Behavioral Health in Memphis.
Less than a week before Dr. Mauck’s murder, he says Pickens had spent the night at Crestwyn Behavioral Health, “went in and was let out the next day,” he explained.
Adding: “They let him go and they shouldn’t have.”
Although she did not know why Larry went to see Dr. Mauck on Tuesday, Louise Pickens confirmed that Dr. Mauck had been Larry’s doctor, recalling that “the doctor operated on his finger.”
Summing up the tragic situation, Louise Pickens added: ‘For my nephew, it’s really sad. And I don’t wish it on anyone.
Pickens had no criminal record in Collierville, but had called the police multiple times about other people.
In April 2022, he called the police claiming that someone had broken into his home.
During that incident, he told officers he was schizophrenic and did not take medication, according to the Memphis local. WATER outlet.
The Memphis home of Dr. Benjamin Mauck, the hand surgeon was murdered in his clinic Tuesday.
Last year, Pickens is said to have threatened the owners of the Faded Barber Shop because he didn’t like their haircut.
In another, more threatening incident, he scared staff and customers at a barbershop by complaining about his haircut.
One of the barbershop owners said he saw Pickens feeling in his pocket as if looking for a gun.
He didn’t pull one out and ended up calling the police himself claiming someone else had threatened him, which they didn’t.
The barbershop owner told WATE that he was worried about his staff.
‘Someone felt threatened, and whenever we feel threatened, we have to go about our business.
“I thought he had some kind of mental disorder just from his actions and how he carried himself.
“He was just reaching into his pocket like he had a gun, but he wasn’t pulling anything out like he was going to shoot,” he said.
He was not charged with either incident.
Pickens appeared in court on Wednesday to tell a judge that he did not have a lawyer.
