Prosecutor seeks death penalty for man charged with killing Marion County sheriff’s deputy

The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday it will seek the death penalty for a man charged in the killing of Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy John Durm this week.

Orlando Mitchell, 34, is charged with two counts of murder, one count of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, and one count of escape for Monday’s incident. 

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said at a press conference Thursday that the prosecutor’s office is seeking the death penalty due to four statutory aggravators: the crime occurred while Mitchell was in the custody of the sheriff’s office, that Mitchell killed an on-duty law enforcement officer, intentionally killed a law enforcement officer while committing robbery, and had previously committed a murder.

“I appreciate Prosecutor Mears and his team for their swift and decisive action in the pursuit of justice for Deputy Durm, his family, and the MCSO,” said Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal in a statement. “We also extend our sincere thanks to our partners at IMPD for being right beside us from the very beginning of this tragedy – both on the investigation and in paying tribute to our fallen colleague.”

According to court documents, video surveillance footage shows Mitchell 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 Monday.

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.

The Marion County Coroner’s Office said on Tuesday that Durm’s cause of death was ligature strangulation, and ruled his death a homicide.

Durm was 61 years old, and had worked for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office for 38 years. His funeral service is scheduled for next Monday. 

Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.