Obtained $2.25 Million Settlement in Jail Suicide Lawsuit in Beltrami County, Minnesota

Bunker v. Keilwitz, et al.

Robins Kaplan civil rights attorneys secured a $2.25 million combined settlement on behalf of our client—the mother of a woman who committed suicide at Beltrami County Jail. The lawsuit filed against MEnD and Beltrami County alleged that both defendants failed to fulfill their constitutional obligations by being deliberately indifferent to the inmates known and reported serious medical and mental health needs, including suicidality, upon and after her jail admission. Thus, violating protections in the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Roughly a week after the arrest, our client’s daughter committed suicide in a cell at Beltrami County Jail. She remained brain dead and on life support – cuffed to her hospital bed – for ten days, before her family was finally alerted of the incident. This was not the first time that Beltrami County has been accused of violating rules prior to an inmate’s death. In both 2016 and 2018, the Minnesota Department of Corrections conducted investigations and found violations of Minnesota jail procedures.