Indiana executes Roy Lee Ward for 2001 murder of teenager Stacy Payne
This post was provided by News Now Warsaw
By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle
Death row inmate Roy Lee Ward was executed by lethal injection early Friday morning at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, marking the state’s second execution of 2025 and the third since resuming the death penalty after more than a decade-long hiatus.
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.
He was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County.
It remains unclear, however, when exactly the execution drug was administered, the amount of pentobarbital used, or who witnessed the execution.
“Early this morning, the execution of Roy Lee Ward was carried out, delivering accountability for the brutal rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne on April 16, 2001,” said Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita in an an early Friday statement. “Following his 2007 conviction and death sentence, Ward’s case was thoroughly reviewed, culminating in the Indiana Supreme Court setting his execution date and Governor Mike Braun rejecting his request for clemency.”
“Today, we honor Stacy Payne’s memory and bring long-awaited closure to her family and loved ones,” Rokita continued. “I extend my heartfelt thanks to our office’s appeals team, who dedicated thousands of hours and exceptional talent to upholding the jury’s verdict and ensuring the law was enforced. The Indiana Department of Correction carried out this sentence with utmost professionalism, reinforcing the state’s commitment to protecting our communities from violent predators. Let this stand as a resolute warning: those who commit such heinous crimes will face the full weight of justice.”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle was not invited to witness Ward’s execution. Ward’s defense team declined to provide specifics about the inmate’s witness list but said no media were present in the witness room.
“ … for years Roy has told me that if his execution would make Stacy’s family feel any better, that that is what he wants,” Laura Volk, one of Ward’s lawyers, said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle.
“Initially, I saw a sad, broken man. I assume that was how he felt because of him coming to terms with what he had done to Stacy, her family and his family and friends,” she added. “Throughout the years, I have witnessed a transformation. He has become a person who is kind and generous to the people around him. Clearly in prison, a person’s ability to help others is severely limited. They have little and little is given to them. Through the years, Roy has taken what he has and given it to others. I have witnessed him help others in the small ways he can. It is a transformation that our society hopes to happen while one is incarcerated. In the 25 years I have been doing this work, I can say Roy is a different person than when he went in.”
Ward’s execution came after years of legal appeals and recent, increased scrutiny over the state’s secrecy surrounding lethal injection drugs.
Gov. Mike Braun’s office has refused to disclose how much the state paid for the latest three sets of lethal injection drugs purchased by the Department of Correction in recent months, however.
At least one of those sets of pentobarbital was expected to be used for Ward’s execution. Any unused drugs will expire at the end of the month, according to new court documents.
The governor previously disclosed that state officials spent $1.175 million on lethal injection doses over the past year — $600,000 of which was spent by former Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration on drugs that expired before use. The cost has been between $275,000 and $300,000 per dose.
“Roy Lee Ward’s case has been heard and reviewed numerous times by both state and federal courts, including the Indiana Supreme Court, since his conviction in 2002. These reviews have never resulted in an overturned sentence,” Gov. Mike Braun said in a statement. “The State Parole Board issued a unanimous recommendation to deny Ward’s final appeal for clemency and that his execution proceed as scheduled. Today, Ward’s sentence has been carried out as ordered by the court.”
Ward’s final hours
Outside the prison Thursday night, a small group of anti-death penalty advocates gathered to read scriptures and pray. Among them were members of the Indiana Abolition Coalition and the Diocese of Gary.
Death Penalty Action, a nonprofit that advocates against executions, loaned to protestors the “Delaware Bell,” which the group has rung outside more than a dozen other executions.
The small, quiet protests have become a ritual at the Indiana State Prison, where clergy and activists have gathered before each of the past three executions to call for an end to capital punishment.
“Roy Ward can be held accountable and severely punished without executing him,” said Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action.
DOC officials said Ward’s last meal was from Texas Corral and consisted of: one hamburger, one steak melt, one order of French fries, one baked potato with butter, one order of twelve fried shrimp, one sweet potato, one order of chicken alfredo, and one order of breadsticks.
His last words were, “Brian is going to read them.”
The inmate’s lawyers withdrew the final two federal lawsuits that sought to delay his execution after reaching an agreement with DOC that “ensures compliance” with the state prison’s written execution protocol. The cases were officially dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana on Thursday.
Ward did not pursue a last-ditch reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court like previous Indiana death row inmates. The nation’s high court justices denied such efforts ahead of the state’s previous two executions.
The Indiana Parole Board recommended against clemency last month, citing the “heinous” nature of Ward’s crime. Ward declined to be interviewed by the board, but his defense team’s testimony emphasized a recent autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and Ward’s expressions of remorse.
Braun subsequently allowed the execution to proceed.
State law does not provide access for journalists to witness executions unless invited by the condemned person. A federal lawsuit challenging that restriction is still pending. The Indiana Capital Chronicle is a plaintiff in the case.
In December, the Capital Chronicle was the only news organization present when the state executed Joseph Corcoran, the first person put to death in Indiana in nearly 15 years. The Capital Chronicle was not invited for Benjamin Ritchie’s execution in May.
Witnesses at Ritchie’s execution reported seeing the inmate lurch violently against his restraints after the injection began. DOC officials denied those reports, however, and maintained that “the execution was completed according to protocol.” No members of the media were permitted to witness Ritchie’s execution.
The witness accounts were at the heart of multiple legal challenges and grievances filed by Ward in recent months. His legal team raised concerns about the state’s drug-handling procedures, including storage temperatures, the source and quality of pentobarbital, and whether the DOC followed its own internal directives during Ritchie’s execution.
A ‘heinous’ crime
First responders and relatives recounted the details of Payne’s final moments in emotional testimony before the Indiana Parole Board last month.
Deputy Attorney General Tyler Banks called Ward “a murderer, a rapist, a predator and a manipulator,” emphasizing that two separate juries had reached the same conclusion that his crime warranted death.
Witnesses told the board Ward entered the teenager’s home before her shift at Jenk’s Pizza. Ward proceeded to rape Payne and attack her with a dumbbell and knife. She was left with 18 blunt-force injuries, her throat and abdomen cut open.
Dale Town Marshal Matt Keller, the first officer on the scene, said he found Ward standing in the doorway with a knife in his hand and tried to reassure the wounded girl that help was coming.
Paramedic Jane Stout testified she had “never seen anything this brutal,” recalling that Payne was conscious but unable to speak because of her injuries, tears in her eyes as she struggled to breathe.
Payne’s mother, Julie Wininger, told the parole board her family had endured “8,839 days of emotional devastation,” and that granting clemency “would tell the world that Stacy’s life didn’t matter.”
Her daughter — a highschooler on summer break — was an honor student, cheerleader, member of student council and active in her school’s band.
Ward’s attorneys countered that he had long struggled with mental illness and was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. They argued that his disability had affected how jurors perceived his remorse, noting that he once wrote he avoided saying “sorry” only because “it would sound fake and not be believed.”
Indiana’s execution process
Indiana resumed executions in 2024 after a nearly 15-year pause, following years of difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs after pharmaceutical companies — under growing scrutiny — refused to sell their products for use in executions.
But state officials have refused to reveal where the state obtains its pentobarbital, citing a 2017 secrecy statute that shields the identity of suppliers.
Lethal injection is the only method permitted by state law. Indiana’s current single-drug protocol calls for an intravenous dose of pentobarbital, a fast-acting barbiturate.
It’s unlikely that any additional executions will be carried out at the state prison this year.
Five men remain on Indiana’s death row, but only four have been deemed competent to be executed. In order for a capital punishment to be carried out, the state must request and be granted an execution date from the state supreme court — a process that can take weeks or months.
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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.
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