Indiana State Prison inmate dies in fire; suit over previous fire death set for July trial

A 48-year-old Indiana State Prison inmate died Saturday in a fire in his cell, an Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman said Monday.

Officials have declined to release any other details about Michael W. Smith's death, saying the incident and its cause are being investigated by Indiana State Police and Michigan City and state fire authorities.

‘Dangerous lapses’:5 years later, effects from a deadly Indiana State Prison fire linger

But Smith's death comes while the DOC and some of its employees and former employees are still wrangling with a federal lawsuit filed by family members of 30-year-old Joshua Devine, whose 2017 death while burning in B Cell House has raised questions about how the state's oldest prison was prepared for such an emergency.

The Devine lawsuit, which a judge allowed to proceed last spring, includes documents citing as factors the prison's aging electrical system, lack of fire training, sprinklers and fire extinguishers, inadequate staffing levels and faulty radios.

The judge, in an order last spring, wrote of "dangerous lapses" the remaining defendants knew about.

Devine and nearby prisoners were heard screaming for help for more than 30 minutes before officials tried to rescue him from his cell. The state fire marshal determined the fire began when the inmate plugged a television into an outlet.

In the lawsuit, the DOC has denied the lawsuit's allegations, but a spokeswoman declined to address whether any of the conditions cited in the lawsuit have been improved, including updated wiring, more training or more correctional officers.

Last month, the DOC advertised its newly raised correctional officers pay to $22 an hour, specifically citing ISP.

Because at least two settlement conferences have not been successful, federal court records show, a trial is scheduled for July.

Smith was due to be released in 2032 at the earliest, according to DOC records, on his 2013 convictions of voluntary manslaughter and child molesting in Newton and Benton counties.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Fatal fire at Indiana State Prison; suit over 2017 fire set for trial