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Senate passes resolutions to rename highways after fallen Indiana officers

The resolutions, which already passed the House, would name sections of highways after Marion County Sheriff's Deputy John Durm and IMPD Ofc. Breann Leath.

INDIANAPOLIS — Lawmakers unanimously approved resolutions Monday to honor two fallen Indiana officers. 

State senators passed resolutions that would recommend that INDOT rename portions of two Indianapolis-area highways in honor of Marion County Deputy John Durm and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Ofc. Breann Leath. Both officers were killed in the line of duty in recent years.

Durm would be honored with a one-mile stretch of Interstate 74 southeast of the Acton Road exit on the far southeast side. That portion of interstate would be marked as the "Deputy John Durm Memorial Mile." 

He was killed in July 2023 in an attack during a prisoner transport. He was awarded the Medal of Valor and Purple Heart.

Credit: Marion County Sheriff's Office
Marion County Sheriff's Deputy John Durm

Durm, 61, was survived by his wife, four children, his parents and several other family members.

Also on the southeast side of Indianapolis, a resolution encouraging INDOT to rename part of U.S. 52 between Davis and German Church roads as the "Officer Breann Leath Memorial Mile" also passed the Senate unanimously.

Leath was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call in April 2020. The 24-year-old daughter of a police officer, Leath also served in the Indiana National Guard. 

IMPD and other agencies created the LEATH Initiative in her honor to target domestic violence offenders who commit crimes with illegally-owned guns. The initiative will also work to support victims of domestic violence. Officers will connect domestic survivors and witnesses with social services in their communities to help.

Credit: IMPD
Officer Breann Leath had been with IMPD for more than two years when she made the ultimate sacrifice on April 9, 2020.

Representatives have also authored resolutions to urge INDOT to rename highways in honor of ISP Master Trooper James R. Bailey and Farmland volunteer firefighter Kyle Osgood. 

Bailey was struck by the suspect vehicle in a pursuit on Interstate 69 north of Fort Wayne in March 2023. The 15 1/2-year veteran trooper was attempting to deploy stop sticks to slow the pursuit when he was struck.

Credit: Indiana State Police
Master Trooper James R. Bailey

The resolution, which has passed the House, would rename the section of I-69 between County Road 11A and SR 8 the "Master Trooper James R. Bailey Memorial Highway."

Osgood, 31, was killed in a crash while responding to a barn fire in Randolph County in May 2023. The resolution would ask INDOT to rename a mile of SR 32 from CR 900 West to SR 1 the "Kyle Osgood Memorial Mile."

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