A 38-year-old Trafford woman has filed a federal lawsuit against a Jefferson County Jail corrections officer, alleging she was left in her own bodily waste overnight and let out of her cell even though she was on suicide watch.

Racheal Gantt filed the lawsuit in May. She names as a defendant Corrections Officer Everett. The officer’s first name was not available through court documents.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office does not comment on pending lawsuits.

According to the lawsuit, Gantt was as arrested at the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Center Point and taken to the Jefferson County Jail. The lawsuit does not specify on what charge Gantt was arrested.

During the booking process, Gantt was asked if she had thoughts of hurting herself. She said she was not having those thoughts, but her best friend had died a few days earlier and she was having some “crazy thoughts,’’ the suit states.

Within 48 hours of being booked into the jail, according to the complaint, Gantt entered severe fentanyl withdrawal and was “helpless to keep from throwing up and urinating and defecating on herself.”

The suit states that Gantt continued thinking about her friend who had passed away and began having suicidal thoughts.

On Feb. 7, Gantt told a mental health worker she was thinking of harming herself.

As a result, Gantt was moved to A Block and put on suicide watch. Her clothes were confiscated, and she was given a “turtle suit,” which the lawsuit explains is a garment made of stiff fabric that is designed not to be useable for self-harm.

While in a cell by herself under continuous observation, Gantt was unable to control her bodily fluids and repeated threw up and went to the bathroom on herself, the suit states.

“(Gantt) pushed the call button because she needed a way to clean up, but no one came,’’ according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiff was all night lying in her bodily wasted.

Her mental condition deteriorated further, and her thoughts of suicide became overwhelming.

Everett was on duty the morning of Feb. 8 and brought a trustee to mop the cell. “She refused (Gantt’s) pleas for a new turtle suit, telling her, ‘We can’t give a new suit to everyone that can’t control their bodily fluids,’’’ according to the suit.

Gantt, her attorneys contend, had to choose between being completely naked or wearing the turtle suit covered with her own vomit, feces and urine.

Later that morning, the lawsuit states, Gantt her the lock open on her cell, and the door opened. She did not see a corrections officer in the vicinity.

The suit states that the officer didn’t ensure that someone was present when the cell door opened and knew that since Gantt was on suicide watch, there was a strong possibility that someone on suicide watch might attempt to take their own life if given the opportunity to do so.

“Defendant consciously disregarded the likelihood that (Gantt) would attempt to harm herself or attempt to take her own life when defendant remotely unlocked the cell door with no corrections officers present outside the cell, allowing (Gantt) to emerge from the cell unescorted into the common area of A Block,’’ the suit states.

Everett later said she was opening the door to take Gantt to see the medical staff.

At that point, with no corrections officer present, Gantt went upstairs to the second tier, climbed over the railing and jumped off.

She fell about 10 to 15 feet, “resulting in severe injuries to her lower extremities and extreme physical and mental pain and suffering.

The suit states Gantt has undergone multiple surgeries and continues to experience extreme physical and mental pain.

The suit is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional limits for compensatory damages including damages for severe emotional and physical pain and anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, shame, damage to reputation, damage to personal and family relationships, loss of income, legal fees, medical expenses, lost earning potential, future rehabilitation expenses, future medical costs and future counseling.