Corrections Employee Michael Keel died two days after being assaulted at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.

   Inmates were working in the steel shop when one inmate began a verbal argument with Corrections Employee Keel that turned physical. He was attacked and beaten about the head with a steel pipe.

   Corrections Employee Keel was airlifted to Memorial Hospital of South Bend in critical condition where he underwent surgery. He died from his injuries two days later and became an organ donor to give the gift of life.

   The 39-year-old inmate is serving a 220-year sentence for child molesting, one 60-year term and four consecutive 40-year terms, from Carroll County. In June 2023, charges were filed in this incident for murder and aggravated battery.

   Corrections Employee Keel, from Valparaiso, was a maintenance foremen at the facility. He was survived by his wife, Janifer (née Hiatt); sons, Robert, Nathan and Nicholas Keel, and Matthew Fox; daughter, Heather Keel; four grandchildren; and sister, Terri (David) Funkhouser.

All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.