Former Lake County Deputy Shot

Posted on Monday, March 16, 2009

A 19-year-old Marion man turned himself in Sunday and was being held in the Sioux Falls jail on charges he shot and killed former Lake County sheriff's deputy Chad Mechels.

Mechels was a Turner County Deputy at the time of his death.

Authorities say Ethan Johns was armed with a deer rifle when he surrendered.

The Turner County sheriff says Deputy Mechels was checking the well-being of someone at a farmhouse just west of Marion on Sunday morning when he was shot.

Mechels was 33 years old, married and had two children.

He previously worked in law enforcement in Lake and Kingsbury counties before joining the Turner County Sheriff's Department.

Marion is about 30 miles southwest of Sioux Falls.