ROLLA, ND (KXNET) — A Minneapolis-based law firm representing a 19-year-old North Dakota woman who died in the Rolette County Jail in 2020 says a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit against Rolette County. Robins Kaplan LLP has accepted a $2 million offer of judgment for their client, Jess ica Allen, following her daughter Lacey Higdem’s death nine hours after being admitted to the Rolette County Jail in Rolla. Rolette County made the offer on behalf of itself and two of its former correctional officers. According to the lawsuit, on June 3, 2020, Higdem was found hallucinating and distressed in the woods by law enforcement. She was under the influence of methamphetamine and, after being medically cleared at a hospital, she was booked into the Rolette County Jail. From there, Higdem experienced worsening effects of the drug. Jail video showed she was exhibiting signs of someone who needed urgent medical attention, but no action was taken by correctional authorities, according to the law firm. In its lawsuit, the firm argues Higdem struggled to stand on her own, hit her head on the wall, talked to people who weren’t there, scratched her legs raw, and urinated on herself. The lawsuit claimed correctional officers did not seek medical care for Higdem, despite other inmates repeatedly pressing the “emergency” button out of concern. Instead, court documents allege the two officers watched TV in the control room and engaged in intimate contact with each other. After midnight, when one officer finally checked on her, Higdem was unresponsive. Instead of giving CPR per his training, the officer left Higdem alone to find someone else to give CPR and called his boss, Sheriff Nathan Gustafson, before alerting an ambulance. Higdem was pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m. Following Higdem’s death, Gustafson issued a public statement primarily blaming the incident on an "overwhelming drug problem." The lawsuit contends Gustafson never disciplined the correctional officers for their failures to act that night. The lawsuit also alleges the jail had a history of rule violations relating to inmate life and safety under Gustafson’s watch that were not fixed prior to Higdem’s death. The jail was temporarily closed by the North Dakota Department of Corrections within weeks of Higdem's death, the facility having been labeled, "a danger to the health and safety of inmates." It was allowed to re-open four months later. Details on the shutdown of the Rolette County Jail “My daughter Lacey was only 19 years old when she passed away," said Jessica Allen. "She was scared, vulnerable, and needed help. Instead, she was ignored and left to die. These two correctional officers mocked Lacey instead of helping her. No mother should have to live with the pain of knowing her child suffered alone when she could have been saved." Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW ...read more read less