Philip Reynolds, who killed Patrick Massey in the Lazy Bend community near Grapevine in 2019, remains in the Arkansas State Hospital.

For now.

A release hearing for Reynolds, 58, was scheduled for June 17 and was cancelled June 18.

According to court documents, the request for release to the Centers for Youth and Families in Little Rock was no longer “feasible.” The Arkansas State Hospital “has withdrawn their request for conditional release at this time,” the document stated.

On March 28, 2019, Reynolds shot Patrick Massey nine times, chopped off four of his fingers with a kaiser blade, scalped him and burned his corpse. Reynolds also shot his neighbor Jerry Mauldin in the leg and fired on law enforcement who shot back. Reynolds retreated into the woods near his home and eventually emerged naked with his arms raised above his hands, according to dash cam footage.

Reynolds was charged with:
• Capital Murder with Aggravating Factors
• Criminal Attempt to Commit Capital Murder (Two counts)
• Battery in the First Degree
• Aggravated Assault

In 2024, Reynolds was committed to the state hospital after Circuit Judge Stephen Shirron acquitted him, finding Reynolds not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI).

The 2024 acquittal means Reynolds will never spend one day in prison for Massey’s murder.

Arkansas Act 911 of 1989 will allow Reynolds to leave the Arkansas State Hospital at some point and live in a less secure facility.

That act allows people to complete inpatient treatment, and then they are discharged from the hospital on a conditional release order that allows the state to monitor their community functioning for up to five years. After those five years, a person is free to be in society.

On March 28, 2019, Patrick Massey spent the day working on his truck, according to family members.

Around 2 p.m., Patrick Massey headed to Pine Bluff from his house in Lazy Bend off Grant 19, according to a text message sent to his wife, Ann Massey. Reynolds lived off Grant 19 a mile from the Massey house near Bethany 1 Missionary Baptist Church.

No one then knew much about Reynolds except he had been a lawyer in Texas. No one still knows why Reynolds, who has deep Grant and Union County roots, decided to leave lasting trauma on the Lazy Bend Community that day.

Something, though, made Patrick Massey turn and go to Reynolds’ cabin right off Grant 19. According to numerous 911 calls from that day, Reynolds had threatened several people with violence before he murdered Massey. Although no documents obtained show Reynolds made a direct threat toward Massey on March 28.

For five years the Massey family and many others who endured that March day attended numerous court proceedings at the Grant County Courthouse.

Former Circuit Judge Eddy Easley started on the Reynolds case before retiring in 2020. Shirron, who served as a deputy prosecuting attorney on the case when Easley initially heard it, then took over the case leading to the acquittal.

Reynolds never faced a jury. He never went to prison. He will never go to prison for the murder of Patrick Massey.

In March 2025, Reynolds asked for a hearing for release to the Centers for Youth and Family. After a lengthy Zoom hearing, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Hugh Finklestein denied the release.

As per protocol, Reynolds’ underwent a new psychological evaluation for the hearing that was recently cancelled.

On June 5, Dr. Michelle Ransom, attending psychiatrist Section Chief Unit C, at the Arkansas State Hospital, filed an Act 911 and Conditional Release Request Report, in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

The 2025 psychological evaluation and others from previous years on Reynolds differs from the one filed June 5.

For several years, doctors diagnosed Reynolds with delusional disorder. This time, Dr. Ransom diagnosed Reynolds’ with Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type.

The opinions in the latest report stated that Reynolds continues to be affected by mental disease and that his offense did involve bodily injury to another person.

His release to the Centers for Youth and Family “would not create substantial risk of bodily injury to others or serious damage to the property of others.”

An opinion by Ransom at the end of the 13-page assessment states that Reynolds continues to be affected by Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Type. “His symptoms and insight have improved significantly with treatment,” Ransom wrote. Reynolds has maintained a “blue band, our highest level of privilege since 2023” and worked on a wellness and recovery action plan.”

Ransom wrote, “His future risk of violence is assessed as high related to the nature of his charges. His imminent violence risk is assessed as low. He does not meet criterion for inpatient psychiatric treatment.”

Ten “Conditions of Release” were listed in the assessment. One stated: “Mr. Reynolds will not be in actual or constructive possession of any firearms or other weapons. Mr. Reynolds will not enter Grant County without approval from the court.”

Usually under ACA 5-2-315(f)(2) a person asking for release may only file a petition one time every 180 days, However, that is not the case with Reynolds this time.

“In this case, the doctor submitted the application for conditional release under 5-2-315(a)&(b), which in my opinion does not have the same time constraints as (f),” Prosecuting Attorney Chris Turansky said in an email. “That 180-day provision is there to prevent the patient from repeatedly requesting discharges. So, the short answer to your question is that release may be requested again at any time, and there is no 180-restriction on the doctors filing a new report.”

That means a new request for a hearing to release Reynolds could occur any day.