Matt Larimer, March 2026

WTHR has published their investigation into a fire at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, which resulted in the death of 30 year old inmate Joshua Devine. The report shows that it took guards over 12 minutes to unlock the cell.

Fellow inmates described the entire cell block screaming for help with no response, and when a guard did arrive they did not have keys to the cell or a fire extinguisher. By the time those items arrived it was too late to save Joshua.

According to WTHR’s investigation the prison has a history of electrical issues, including fires, and was supposed to be inspected annually by the fire marshal, but at the time of the fire in 2017 had not been inspected for seven years.

In 2018 Devine’s family filed a law suit against the correctional officers, prison supervisors, and ISP warden Ron Neal alleging wrongful death due to negligence. The state attorney general’s office defended the prison staff’s response.

Following the lawsuits resolution Joshua’s sister stated, “The settlement itself was not what I wanted…I eventually felt like that was the only option…because no one would truly be held accountable.”

Less than six years after the fire that killed Joshua Devine, another inmate, Michael Smith, died in his cell due to an accidental fire. With permission from Smith’s family WTHR has published a video of that fire to show it’s scope and the prisons response.

WTHR’s investigation showed that although the prison was inspected by the state fire marshall’s office following the death of Devine it had again not been inspected for five and a half years prior to Smith’s death.