State settles lawsuit over 2017 inmate death at Indiana State Prison

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (WNDU) – Relatives of an inmate who burned to death in his cell will not get their day in court.

That’s because the wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of 30-year-old Joshua Devine has been settled.

Devine was an inmate at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City in April of 2017 when a television caught fire in his locked cell. The original complaint alleges that there was no working sprinkler system in the cellblock and that prison-imposed restrictions on inmate water use complicated the situation.

Court documents in the case allege that prison staff had multiple opportunities to release Devine but that his cell door was not opened until nearly an hour after the fire broke out.

The cause of Devine’s death was determined to be “thermal burns.”

The suit is similar to one filed earlier this year in connection with the October 2021 inmate stabbing death of 25-year-old Juwan Jones from South Bend. That suit alleges that the prison was operating below 50% of the staffing needed to meet minimum safety requirements, and that a slow response from the prison staff caused him to bleed to death.

Court documents do not contain any details of the settlement agreement. 16 News Now has filed a public records request with regard to any financial commitments made by the state.

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