The attorney representing the estate of a Clearfield County woman who died last year of a drug overdose while in the county prison has indicated that a settlement is near in a federal civil rights lawsuit concerning the case, which listed the county and six corrections officers as defendants.

Philadelphia attorney Dylan T. Hastings and the attorneys representing the county and the officers, Michael R. Lettrich and Marie Millie Jones of Pittsburgh, late last week filed a joint stipulation dismissing each of the six officers from the lawsuit.

Hastings explained that both sides are near a settlement but are still working on the issues.

He said the terms or the settlement could be announced within weeks.

The lawsuit in the federal District Court, Johnstown, was filed last October, three months after 31-year-old Kaitlyn Evans of Woodland was found deceased in her cell block at 3:05 a.m. on July 8.

The mother of one died from the consumption of the deadly drug fentanyl in combination with other drugs, which authorities believed were smuggled into the prison by another inmate who resided in the prison’s Cell Block E.

Just two days before Evans’ death, two other inmates in the block overdosed on fentanyl and were revived through CPR, the use of an automated external defibrillator and Naloxone (Narcan).

An investigation of the Evans death revealed that a wellness check was conducted at 2 a.m. and an officer reported Evans was talking to another inmate.

At 2:30 a.m., she was “slouched” in her bed in an abnormal position, which was reported by an officer.

Another check at 3:05 a.m. found her to be unresponsive.

Hastings, who was the attorney representing the estate of another female inmate who died in the prison in September 2021, filed the present lawsuit against the county, contending prison officials knew that the fentanyl that caused the July 6 overdoses had been smuggled into the prison by inmate Angela Marie Ricketts.

While Ricketts, 39, was removed from the cell block after the incident, the ensuing search to locate additional fentanyl was unsuccessful.

The lawsuit charged that prison officials and Clearfield County were deliberately indifferent in addressing the drug problems that were apparent in the prison population.

The county answered the lawsuit, denying prison personnel were indifferent to the situation and emphasized a thorough search of the cell block to locate additional drugs had turned up nothing.

Authorities also reported that PrimeCare Medical Inc. of Harrisburg, the firm which provides medical care to the inmates, was treating Evans for her addiction problems.

The lawsuit was referred to Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto in Johnstown.

According to a recent schedule issued by Pesto, the case was due to be trial ready by next spring.

The schedule included the filing of expert reports, depositions and pretrial statements by next April.

The lawsuit was filed by Heather M. Walstrom, Evans’ mother, the administrator of her estate.

The person who brought the drugs into the prison, Ricketts, has pleaded guilty to charges of drug delivery resulting in death.

In a statement presented in court during her sentencing hearing, she said Evans was her friend and that “I think about her everyday.”

Clearfield County Judge Paul Cherry sentenced Ricketts to a prison term of 87 months to 20 years, followed by 12 months of reentry probation.

The lawsuit charged the county and its officers with violation of the 1983 Civil Rights Act — deliberate indifference and failure to protect.

The action also charged civil rights violations for failure to properly train prison staff in ways to deal with the drug problems in the prison.