Of their grievance, the household of the late Lucas Bellamy alleges that Hennepin County Jail officers disregarded medical recommendation and ignored Bellamy’s repeated requests for care.
The household of a Minnesota man who died in a Hennepin County jail has filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to native authorities, saying corrections officers are answerable for the “horrific” loss of life of Lucas Bellamy.
Based on CBS Information, the lawsuit alleges that Bellamy was “pressured to crawl on his fingers and knees as he begged for medical care.” Bellamy, 41, died from a perforated bowel in July of 2022, lower than three days after he was admitted to Hennepin County Jail close to Minneapolis.
Of their grievance, his household mentioned that Bellamy was pressured to endure excruciating ache, with guards ignoring his requests for medical consideration and care.
“Lucas may have been simply saved with correct remedy,” the lawsuit claims. “As an alternative, he endured a real-life nightmare and died.”
Throughout a information convention asserting the declare, attorneys for the Bellamy household confirmed footage taken from inside Hennepin County Jail, depicting Bellamy crawling by the ability on his fingers and knees. He reportedly screamed for assist loudly and repeatedly, asking to be taken to a hospital simply hours earlier than he was discovered useless.
“There have been systemic points right here, and the household needs accountability, and it needs justice for Lucas’ loss of life,” mentioned Jeff Storms, an lawyer representing the household. “However the household additionally needs to verify this by no means occurs to anybody else once more.”
Storms mentioned that the household is in search of damages for Bellamy’s loss of life, in addition to an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 41-year-old’s loss of life.
“Any individual else wants to analyze the loss of life of Lucas Bellamy, and it can’t be the county and it can’t be the [Minnesota Department of Corrections],” Storms mentioned. “We expect the Lawyer Common’s Workplace ought to examine this individually, and we additionally assume the Division of Justice wants to begin a patterns and observe investigation of the Hennepin County Jail, as a result of extra folks die in that jail than every other jail in Minnesota.”
In an announcement launched on Tuesday, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Workplace, which administers the jail, mentioned that it can’t touch upon pending litigation. Nevertheless, it did say that it extends its “deepest sympathies” to the “Bellamy household and to all these affected by Mr. Bellamy’s loss of life.”
“We stay dedicated to professionally serving all folks in our amenities and beneath our care with compassion, dignity, and respect,” the assertion mentioned.
Bellamy, notes Minnesota Public Radio, had been arrested on July 18, 2022, for allegedly fleeing from police. He was going through felony drug and firearm expenses, amongst others.
The lawsuit notes that, after being admitted to the jail, Bellamy advised employees that he had ingested a bag of medication earlier than his arrest. He was taken to Hennepin Healthcare the identical morning, monitored for a number of hours, after which discharged with the instruction that he be returned to the hospital for any “new regarding signs.”
Regardless of this recommendation, the grievance alleges that Bellamy fell ailing on July 20, together with his situation worsening all through the night. However he was neither returned to the hospital, nor supplied with sufficient medical care within the Hennepin County Jail.
Bellamy was discovered mendacity face-down in his cell round midday the subsequent day and pronounced useless lower than an hour later.
Bellamy’s sister, Sarah Bellamy, issued an announcement explaining that Bellamy had been an clever and beneficiant particular person whose life was completely derailed by drug habit.
“Lucas was not how he died. He was not his habit. He was a stupendous soul, whose delicate coronary heart was typically overwhelmed by the sweetness and the ugliness of the world,” she mentioned. “And he did the very best he may, for so long as he may, combating a demon that stranded him away from his family members who would have completed something—something—to save lots of his life, and to spare him from such extended and excruciating ache.”
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Household of man who died in Hennepin County Jail recordsdata federal lawsuit
