GILBERT, Ariz. — A warning: Locked Inside includes violence, graphic details and conversations about serious mental illness.
The sun was just starting to rise when two police officers responded to a group home in Gilbert, Ariz. on April 12, 2021. Police had been to this home before: reports of missing people, assaults, mental health checks, sometimes false alarms. But this call would be very different.
This particular group home is licensed by the State of Arizona to provide 24/7 supervision to people who need behavioral and mental health services. When the officers got there, they found two group home employees standing in the street, locked outside of the home. One of the staff members frantically called for help that morning after claiming one of the residents tried to attack him and his co-worker. The staff members ran outside to get away from that resident. When a 911 operator asked if they needed medical assistance, the staff member told them no, that they just needed police.
But six minutes after officers arrived, they realized someone inside did need help. There was a man lying on the floor, bleeding from his head. By the time help got to him, it was too late. Police found the suspect calmly washing away blood in the shower. He was arrested and charged with murder.
As investigators tried to piece together how someone could have been killed inside a group home licensed to provide 24/7 supervision, neighbors would learn that a convicted killer had been released to live on their street. And that secret was just the tip of the iceberg.
Locked Inside, a new 12-News I-Team and VAULT Studios podcast, follows the harrowing and heartbreaking story of Christopher Lambeth and those who crossed his path along the way. It’s a big mystery with police reports, crime scenes and mounting evidence. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill true crime podcast.
Locked Inside digs into a subject that doesn’t often get this type of careful in-depth attention in the mainstream: mental health and care for those who need help. This investigative series uncovers the grave consequences that can come with lapses in care by exposing potential gaps in Arizona’s mental health care system, with a goal of highlighting a need for change before other vulnerable people potentially fall through the cracks.
You can listen to Locked Inside wherever you get your podcasts starting April 12, 2022.
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