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Correctional Officer

Darla Kay Lathrem

Florida Department of Corrections — Tallahassee, FL

Felonious

End of Watch June 11, 2003

Age 38

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

The Vigil Panel 336 · Column 3 · Line 2 ›

Gender Female

Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Department 32

Incident

Correctional Officer Darla Lathrem was killed as she supervised five inmates on a construction detail inside the Charlotte Correctional Institution.

She was assaulted by three of the inmates as they made an attempt to escape. The inmates were assisting with the building of a new dormitory for the maximum security prison and had access to tools such as hammers and screwdrivers. They attacked her with a five-pound sledgehammer.

Two of the inmates were attacked by the other three when they refused to participate in the escape attempt. One of the victim inmates died as a result of his injuries.

Two of the escaping inmates were captured between the facility and the inner perimeter fence. The third was caught between the inner and outer perimeter fences. The inmate that killed Officer Lathrem was sentenced to death on March 31st, 2006. The 'mastermind' of the escape attempt was convicted of her murder on June 23rd, 2006 and sentenced to death on August 18th, 2006. The third inmate had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a life sentence, but the judge rejected his guilty plea because of concerns about his mental competence.

Officer Lathrem's death was the first corrections officer fatality at the facility. Additionally, she was the first female corrections officer to be killed in the line of duty in Florida. She had served with the Florida Department of Corrections for one year.

Survivors

She was survived by her parents.

In Our Keeping

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Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Tributes

You barely got started.
Correctional Officer Lathrem gave the Florida Department of Corrections 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of Florida. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Correctional Officer Lathrem.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Florida Department of Corrections

Type Corrections

Location Tallahassee, Leon County, FL

Platform Identity fdcorr.leon.fl.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 11, 2003

Tour of Duty 1 yrs

Age 38

Gender Female

Incident Details

Cause Felonious

Cause Detail Assault

Weapon Blunt object; Hammer

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Darla is one of 15,742 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,102 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

Compare against

Time

In 2003, 64 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 117th heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States

Who

Darla was 38. Of the 14,219 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Darla had served 1 year; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death

Where she stood among them

Age by years of service

III

When

June holds 8.1% of these deaths in the United States; December holds the most, 9.4%. Wednesdays: 12.9%.

By month

By day of the week

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was blunt object; hammer, in 0% of these deaths.

Every cause

Weapons recorded