What we know about Orlando Mitchell, accused of killing Marion County Sheriff's Deputy
A Marion County Sheriff's deputy has died after being attacked during an escape attempt, marking the second time in as little as two weeks that an Indiana peace officer has been slain in the line of duty.
On Monday, Deputy John Durm was declared dead at Eskenazi Hospital hours after he was attacked during a violent escape attempt by a man who drove a jail van out of the Community Justice Campus, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Lt. Shane Foley said. The van crashed just outside the parking lot, in the 3000 block of Prospect Street.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal said Durm had been with the department for about 38 years.
"John was just a good guy, he really was," a tearful Forestal said.
Orlando Mitchell, 34, has been accused in Durm's slaying. He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
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What we know about Orlando Mitchell
Mitchell is facing several criminal charges that include a 2022 homicide in addition to the death of Durm, which Assistant Chief Chris Bailey on Monday called "an intentional act of homicide."
Mitchell's charges in 2022 include murder, intimidation, strangulation, confinement, domestic battery, intimidation, invasion of privacy, and residential entry.
In September 2022, Mitchell was arrested after Krystal Walton, 32, was fatally shot while dropping her children off at a daycare in the 900 block of North Holmes Avenue.
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IndyStar learned Walton routinely faced threats from her ex-boyfriend, Mitchell, who was the father of her youngest child. Walton filed a restraining order against him, barred Mitchell from seeing their son and took Mitchell to child custody court.
Walton told police she feared Mitchell would one day try to kill her.
Three hours after Walton's death, a caller told 911 a man at a downtown bus stop informed them he killed his girlfriend earlier at the same address of the daycare shooting. Police found Mitchell, who was carrying a rifle, and shot him in the leg after they say he refused to drop the gun.
Prosecutors later charged him with murder in Walton's killing. He was held without bond on two active domestic violence-related warrants for prior cases.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Orlando Mitchell suspected in killing Marion County Deputy John Durm
