
KATV reported that McAllister was transported to Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, where he was pronounced dead at 8:50 a.m. There is no suspicion of foul play or suicide in his death.
McAllister was a prominent figure in the Netflix series “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment” after being incarcerated at Williams Correctional Facility in Pine Bluff. He was serving a three-year prison sentence following his conviction on ten felony counts related to drugs, breaking and entering, theft of property, and firearms possession. This was not McAllister’s first encounter with the law, as he had been incarcerated 14 times since he was 19 years old.
While at Williams Correctional Facility, McAllister worked as the prison tattoo artist, regularly inking his fellow prisoners. He gained international recognition through his appearance on “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment,” an eight-part series that premiered in April. The series followed the lives of several inmates at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility and explored whether prisoners could govern themselves without the presence of guards.
As part of the experiment, deputies were removed from the unit, and a tier-based structure was implemented. Prisoners who demonstrated good behavior were rewarded, while the sudden relaxation of rules left participants baffled. McAllister was interviewed for the Netflix docuseries, reflecting on his criminal past and the adrenaline rush he experienced from breaking the law. “All I’ve been around is criminals… I love that adrenaline rush high, knowing you could get caught,” he said.
Arkansas sheriff Eric Higgins spoke to Netflix’s Tudum ahead of the series’ release, sharing his ambitious vision for the project. “We thought, ‘What can we do to create some ownership for those detainees in that unit? How do we make the facility safer, and what can we do to still hold them accountable but empower them at the same time?’” Higgins explained.