Father sues US prison over medical care denial to suffering inmate son in 'crisis'

A Minnesota man has filed a federal lawsuit after jail staff failed to provide medical care to his son, leading to his death.

On Tuesday, a shocking video released by the family of the victim, Lucas Bellamy, showed how he was denied medical treatment, even after he crawled out of his cell on his hands and knees

His parents and sister held a press conference on Tuesday to announce their lawsuit and release the video of his final pleas, as they demanded justice for Lucas while calling for a reform to the way inmates are treated.

Bellamy, 41, was arrested on July 18, 22 on charges of fleeing police in a suspected stolen vehicle along with possession of brass knuckles, and was taken to the Hennepin County Jail, where he pleaded with the jail staff for help, after which he was found dead three days later.

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At the time of his arrest, he had informed the staff that he had overdosed and consumed a bag of drugs, following which he was rushed to the hospital, where he was sedated and monitored for several hours before being sent back to the jail on the condition that he would be re-admitted in case of the arrival of any new symptoms.

In the next few days, Bellamy began to develop new symptoms and could barely stand, following which he was moved from a general prison to a single-person cell.

His stomach ache intensified by July 21, and the nurse assigned to look after Bellamy made several rounds throughout the passing hours after he kept on complaining of severe pain.

The nurse declined Bellamy’s continuous requests to send him to the hospital, as she believed that he was faking the pain.

On July 21, at around 1 pm he was pronounced dead after he succumbed to the pain.

“Lucas was not how he died. He was not his addiction. He was a beautiful soul, whose sensitive heart was often overwhelmed by the beauty and the ugliness of this world,” his sister, Sarah Bellamy, said according to MPR News.

According to court records, Bellamy’s cause of death was peritonitis due to a duodenal perforation, which means he “died from an infection because there was a hole in his small intestine”, adding it could have been treated easily with proper medical care.

“Lucas spent the last day of his life... desperately begging nurses and jail guards to see a doctor,” the suit states.

Colleen Bellamy, Lucas' mother, said the workers assigned to her son's care were “standing back as if this little skinny helpless human being was a danger to them.”

“He had begged, he had crawled on all-fours until he couldn't even move on all-fours. He just collapsed like Jell-O,” she added.

Ever since 2015, the Hennepin County Jail has seen the deaths of 15 inmates.

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