Marion County sheriff’s deputies fired for “job performance” on day colleague died during an escape attempt

Two Marion County Sheriff’s deputies were fired recently as a result of “job performance” on the day another deputy died after he was attacked by a detainee at the Indianapolis Adult Detention Center.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement released Sunday that the overall investigation into the death of Deputy John Durm has not been completed, and no other information will be released yet.

According to court documents, video surveillance footage shows Orlando Mitchell, 34, choking Durm with his handcuffs before Mitchell stole a jail van and crashed it near the Community Justice Campus on Indianapolis’s southeast side on July 10.

Mitchell was taken into custody and transported to Eskenazi Hospital. Durm was also taken to the hospital, and was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived.

Durm was 61 years old, and had worked for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for 38 years. 

The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking the death penalty against Mitchell who is charged with two counts of murder, one count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and one count of escape.

WFYI’s criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross contributed reporting.

Contact WFYI education reporter Dylan Peers McCoy at dmccoy@wfyi.org.