$3.6 Million Paid by Minnesota County After Hemophiliac Jail Detainee Died from Brain Bleed
Officials in Minnesota’s Ramsey County agreed on April 9, 2025, to pay $3.6 million to settle claims filed for the Estate of Dillon Bakke, a 32-year-old hemophiliac who suffered a brain hemorrhage that went undiagnosed and untreated for three days at the county jail before he was sent to a hospital where he later died.
Bakke was sleeping on his mother’s St. Paul porch when a neighbor reported him as a suspicious person, and responding cops arrested him on suspicion of drug possession on August 7, 2022. He was taken to the Ramsey County Jail, where he informed officials at intake that he suffered from hemophilia and required medication to control excessive bleeding in the event he suffered an injury.
Roughly 12 hours later he began complaining of severe head pain. By early morning on the next day, he was “unable to stand or walk, and was yelling out in pain and yelling for his mother,” according to the complaint later filed on his behalf. In response, guards carried him to a segregation unit, failing to report his condition to medical personnel.
Over the next 30 hours, his condition continued to deteriorate, until he was found unresponsive on August 9, 2022. He was taken to a hospital, where it was discovered that he was suffering from a brain hemorrhage. He died of a brain bleed 18 days later, never regaining consciousness.
On behalf of his Estate, Theresa Schnell, his mother, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Proceeding under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, she accused the County and its jail officials of deliberate indifference to his serious medical need, in violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights. She also lodged claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. ch.126 § 12101, et seq., and the Rehabilitation Act (RA), 29 U.S.C. § 701, et seq.
Settlement negotiations began almost at once, resulting in the parties’ agreement. Under its terms, $1.2 million in fees and $43,447.37 in costs were paid to Schnell’s attorneys, Steven J. Meshbesher and Richard E. Student of Meshbesher & Student P.A. in Minneapolis. Another $25,000 was paid to settle a Blue Cross/Blue Shield lien, with the balance paid to Schnell and other members of Bakke’s family. See: Schnell v. Ramsey Cty., USDC (D. Minn.), Case No. 0:23-cv-02655.
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Related legal case
Schnell v. Ramsey Cty
| Year | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Minn.), Case No. 0:23-cv-02655 |
| Level | District Court |