The family of Lucas Bellamy — a man who died while in custody at the Hennepin County Jail two years ago — has won a $3.4 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the county.

“This settlement is believed to be one of the largest settlements ever reached in Minnesota for a death occurring in a jail,” a document filed Monday in federal court states.

A civil complaint states Bellamy, 41, told Hennepin County Jail staff had ingested a bag of drugs before his arrest on July 18, 2022. He was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for a screening, and he appeared to be “clinically stable.” Health providers advised that he should be brought to the emergency department “for any new concerning symptoms.”

A doctor prescribed Bellamy an array of mild over-the-counter drugs but nothing for potential opioid withdrawals. Bellamy had requested Narcan upon jail intake, the lawsuit states, but he did not receive it.

Shortly after midnight on July 20, Bellamy became ill and started vomiting in his cell. He had been in custody for two full days at that point. By the evening, he was doubled over in pain and screaming for help for hours, complaining that “My stomach hurts really bad.”

The lawsuit claims Bellamy was left to “crawl around on the jail floor like he was subhuman, like he was an animal, while he slowly and painfully died from the effects of a hole in his intestine.”

Jail staff never took Bellamy to the hospital or the emergency department, despite a directive to seek emergency services if his condition worsened.

One nurse who did not examine Bellamy’s abdomen while he was exhibiting these symptoms allegedly told Bellamy she “was not sending [him] to the hospital tonight” and told him to alert jail staff if his condition progressed. While taking his vitals, she also failed to take his temperature, which the lawsuit alleges could have alerted staff members to the seriousness of his condition.

Another nurse who visited Bellamy’s cell the morning of July 21 noted Bellamy had requested “all the medications he could” and then observed as he was too weak to ingest the over-the-counter drugs he had been prescribed. The lawsuit also alleges this nurse was having a casual conversation with a Hennepin County deputy as Bellamy crawled on the floor in pain. Bellamy was pronounced dead that afternoon.

The lawsuit alleges Hennepin County, Hennepin Healthcare and four employees overseeing Bellamy violated his constitutional rights and acted with “deliberate indifference” to his suffering.

“The death of Mr. Bellamy was a tragedy,” Hennepin County spokeswoman Carolyn Marinan said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to his family and to all those affected by his death. While this litigation has reached a resolution, we remain committed to serving all people under our care with dignity and respect.”

Amid the settlement, the Minnesota Department of Corrections ordered the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office last week to reduce its jail population from about 900 inmates to 600 by Thursday due to jail overcrowding and safety concerns.

The order said the jail had “failed to conduct timely well-being checks” connected, in part, to the deaths of seven inmates over the past two years.

Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she could not comment on the order because her office is appealing it.

But, James Stuart, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS five of those seven deaths were of natural causes.

“And, there’s been more than one jail that’s been caught up in this situation and when the elected sheriffs have attempted to reach out and have this dialogue the DOC has been left unresponsive, unfortunately,” said Stuart.

In September, Sheriff Witt told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the jail was overcrowded, and she was already in the process of moving nearly 200 inmates to other county jails because it was unsafe for inmates and corrections officers.

“In terms of overtime, and you know, running at minimums, that’s not good for anyone. It’s not good for our incarcerated population. It’s not good for the people that are working in the jail day-in and day-out,” said Witt.

Stuart said the Sheriff’s Association is considering legal action against the DOC to stop what he called an “unfair” interpretation of the rules.

DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell declined to comment because the order is under appeal.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Jeffrey Storms, the lead attorney representing Bellamy’s family, for comment and is waiting to hear back.