Execution Date Requested for Death Row Inmate Roy Lee Ward
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana attorneys have sent a request to the Indiana Supreme Court on Friday to announce the date for death row inmate 52-year-old Roy Lee Ward to be executed.
Ward was convicted for raping and killing 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County in 2001.
If the request is accepted, Ward will be the third inmate to be executed in Indiana after a 15-year break. Joseph Corcoran was executed in December 2024, and Benjamin Ritchie was executed in May 2025, both by lethal injection.
Reports say the state has spent over $1 million for four doses of lethal injection, two of which had expired. Indiana Governor Mike Braun says the drug can expire in 90 days and should not be wasted by being allowed to expire.
Braun says the state will temporarily stop buying new lethal injection drugs. He wants lawmakers and the public to talk about whether the death penalty should continue in Indiana.
The Supreme Court will make the decision on scheduling a date.
