10 October 2025 :
October 10, 2025 - Indiana. Roy Lee Ward, 53, White, was executed on October 10.
At the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, by lethal injection
Indiana Department of Correction officials said in a statement that “the execution process started shortly after” 12 a.m. Central Time and Ward, 53, was pronounced dead at 12:33 a.m. CT.
It remains unclear, however, when exactly the execution drug was administered, the amount of pentobarbital used, or who witnessed the execution, as Indiana is one of two states (among 27 states with death penalty laws) that bar media witnesses to executions. Ward’s witness list included attorneys and spiritual advisers.
Ward was convicted for the April 16, 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County.
Indiana Department of Correction said in a statement that the process started shortly after midnight and Ward was pronounced dead at 12:33 a.m.
Ward’s last words reported by Indiana Department of Correction were “Brian is going to read them,” but it was unclear when exactly he made the statement.
The execution came two days after Ward dropped two federal lawsuits that were his final attempts to delay his execution or have his death sentence commuted.
Ward’s execution came amid questions about Indiana’s handling of the powerful sedative pentobarbital. Last year state officials ended a 15-year pause on executions, saying they’d been able to obtain drugs used in lethal injections that had been unavailable for years.
The Indiana Department of Correction said it had obtained “enough pentobarbital to follow the required protocol” for Ward’s execution. Ward’s attorneys had raised concerns about the use of the drug and how the state stored it, including temperature issues.
Ward was sentenced to death in 2002. But after the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, he pleaded guilty in 2007. A decade later, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. In 2019, he sued Indiana seeking to stop all pending executions.
Last month, the Indiana Supreme Court declined to stay the execution and Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ward’s clemency bid.
Ward skipped the parole board interview for his clemency bid, saying he didn’t want to force the victim’s family to travel to the prison and that he couldn’t always say what he meant. Attorneys say Ward was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, which affected his ability to communicate.
One of his spiritual advisers, Deacon Brian Nosbusch, said ahead of the execution that Ward thought deeply about his actions. “He knows he did it,” Nosbusch said. “He knows it was horrendous.”
Ward becomes the 2nd prisoner executed this year in Indiana, the 23nd since Indiana resumed executions in 1981, the 35th execution of the year in the US, and the n° 1642 overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/man-convicted-killing-15-year-girl-home-2001-126390517
