Roy Lee Ward, convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne, is scheduled for execution on Friday next week, at the Indiana State Prison. According to FOX59, Governor Mike Braun announced today that he will follow the Indiana Parole Board’s unanimous recommendation against clemency, allowing the execution to proceed.
If carried out, Ward will be the third person executed in Indiana since the state resumed capital punishment in December 2024, following a decade-long pause. Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that Braun had previously denied clemency to another death row inmate, Benjamin Ritchie, earlier this year.
Ward’s legal team has argued that Indiana’s use of pentobarbital in executions violates the Eighth Amendment, citing risks of extreme pain and suffering. They proposed using an opioid such as fentanyl before the lethal injection to reduce potential suffering. However, Indiana State Prison Warden Ron Neal stated that the prison’s protocols do not include fentanyl.
WRTV reported that the State Parole Board emphasized the severity of Stacy Payne’s murder in its decision, stating that the particularly violent nature of the crime and that she remained conscious during the attack were key factors in their recommendation.
Indiana Capital Chronicle also reported that the state has invested heavily in lethal injection drugs, including doses that have expired without being used.
