Family of man who died ‘like he was an animal’ in jail cell begging for help wins $3.4 million settlement

Inset: Lucas Bellamy (Neptune Society). Background: Bellamy is seen in the orange jail jumpsuit in his final hours before dying in custody in Minnesota. (Storms Dworak LLC).

Inset: Lucas Bellamy (Neptune Society). Background: Bellamy is seen in the orange jail jumpsuit in his final hours before dying in custody in Minnesota (Storms Dworak LLC).

A Minnesota county has agreed to a $3.4 million settlement with the family of an inmate who spent his final hours crawling around on a jail floor “like he was an animal,” dying from the effects of a hole in his intestine as nurses and jailers ignored his desperate pleas for help after he told them he had ingested a bag of drugs.

The family of Lucas Bellamy, 41, who died in 2022 while detained at the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center, received the settlement in their federal wrongful death lawsuit.

“This settlement cannot remotely fill the void left by Lucas’ loss,” the family’s attorney, Jeff Storms, said in an email to Law&Crime. “However, it is an important step with respect to accountability and responsibility. Our hope is that Lucas’s senseless death has served and will serve to inspire badly needed improvements to correctional care in Minnesota and nationwide.”

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