Indiana Executes Benjamin Ritchie for 2000 Officer Killing
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind — Nearly 25 years after a police officer was shot and killed during a chase, the state of Indiana carried out the execution of the man convicted of the crime early Tuesday at Indiana State Prison.
Benjamin Ritchie, 44, died by lethal injection at 12:46 a.m. CDT, nearly a quarter-century after he shot and killed Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney while fleeing from a stolen van in 2000.
The execution took place at 12:46 a.m. CDT. Ritchie’s final words were: “I love my family, my friends, and all the support I’ve gotten. I hope they all find peace,” according to the Indiana Department of Correction.
Ritchie’s attorney, Steven Shutte, described the moments after the injection, saying Ritchie briefly twitched and then went still. The blinds were closed about three minutes later.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute request to stop the execution. Ritchie’s lawyers argued he suffered brain damage due to fetal alcohol exposure and had changed during his two decades in prison.
Officer Toney was shot in the neck on Sept. 29, 2000. He died a day before his 33rd birthday, leaving behind a wife and two young children. At his sentencing in 2002, Ritchie admitted he “needed to be put down” for what he did.
