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https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/10/10/indiana-executes-roy-lee- ward-for-2001-murder-of-teenager-stacy-payne/

Indiana executes Roy Lee Ward for 2001 murder of teenager Stacy Payne

No journalists were allowed as the state carried out its third execution
in less than a year.

By: Casey Smith
-
October 10, 2025 2:39 am

Death row inmate Roy Lee Ward was executed by lethal injection early
Friday morning at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, marking the staterCOs 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 rCLthe execution process started shortly afterrCY 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.

rCLEarly 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,rCY said Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita
in an an early Friday statement. rCLFollowing his 2007 conviction and death sentence, WardrCOs case was thoroughly reviewed, culminating in the Indiana Supreme Court setting his execution date and Governor Mike Braun rejecting
his request for clemency.rCY

rCLToday, we honor Stacy PaynerCOs memory and bring long-awaited closure to her family and loved ones,rCY Rokita continued. rCLI extend my heartfelt thanks to our officerCOs appeals team, who dedicated thousands of hours and exceptional talent to upholding the juryrCOs verdict and ensuring the law
was enforced. The Indiana Department of Correction carried out this
sentence with utmost professionalism, reinforcing the staterCOs 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.rCY

The Indiana Capital Chronicle was not invited to witness WardrCOs execution. WardrCOs defense team declined to provide specifics about the inmaterCOs witness list but said no media were present in the witness room.

rCL rCa for years Roy has told me that if his execution would make StacyrCOs family feel any better, that that is what he wants,rCY Laura Volk, one of WardrCOs lawyers, said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle.

rCLInitially, 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,rCY she added. rCLThroughout 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 personrCOs 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.rCY

WardrCOs execution came after years of legal appeals and recent, increased scrutiny over the staterCOs secrecy surrounding lethal injection drugs.

Gov. Mike BraunrCOs 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 WardrCOs 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 rCo $600,000 of which
was spent by former Gov. Eric HolcombrCOs administration on drugs that
expired before use. The cost has been between $275,000 and $300,000 per
dose.

rCLRoy Lee WardrCOs 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,rCY Gov. Mike Braun said in a statement. rCLThe State Parole Board issued a unanimous recommendation to deny WardrCOs final appeal for clemency and that his execution proceed as scheduled. Today, WardrCOs sentence has
been carried out as ordered by the court.rCY

WardrCOs 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 rCLDelaware Bell,rCY 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.

rCLRoy Ward can be held accountable and severely punished without executing him,rCY said Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action.

DOC officials said WardrCOs 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, rCLBrian is going to read them.rCY

The inmaterCOs lawyers withdrew the final two federal lawsuits that sought
to delay his execution after reaching an agreement with DOC that rCLensures compliancerCY with the state prisonrCOs 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 nationrCOs high court justices
denied such efforts ahead of the staterCOs previous two executions.

The Indiana Parole Board recommended against clemency last month, citing
the rCLheinousrCY nature of WardrCOs crime. Ward declined to be interviewed by the board, but his defense teamrCOs testimony emphasized a recent autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and WardrCOs 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 RitchierCOs execution in May.

Witnesses at RitchierCOs execution reported seeing the inmate lurch
violently against his restraints after the injection began. DOC officials denied those reports, however, and maintained that rCLthe execution was completed according to protocol.rCY No members of the media were permitted
to witness RitchierCOs 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 staterCOs drug-handling procedures, including storage
temperatures, the source and quality of pentobarbital, and whether the DOC followed its own internal directives during RitchierCOs execution.

A rCyheinousrCO crime

First responders and relatives recounted the details of PaynerCOs final moments in emotional testimony before the Indiana Parole Board last month.

Deputy Attorney General Tyler Banks called Ward rCLa murderer, a rapist, a predator and a manipulator,rCY emphasizing that two separate juries had reached the same conclusion that his crime warranted death.

Witnesses told the board Ward entered the teenagerrCOs home before her shift at JenkrCOs 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 rCLnever seen anything this brutal,rCY recalling that Payne was conscious but unable to speak because of her injuries, tears in her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

PaynerCOs mother, Julie Wininger, told the parole board her family had
endured rCL8,839 days of emotional devastation,rCY and that granting clemency rCLwould tell the world that StacyrCOs life didnrCOt matter.rCY

Her daughter rCo a highschooler on summer break rCo was an honor student, cheerleader, member of student council and active in her schoolrCOs band.

WardrCOs 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 rCLsorryrCY only because rCLit would sound fake
and not be believed.rCY

IndianarCOs execution process

Indiana resumed executions in 2024 after a nearly 15-year pause, following years of difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs after pharmaceutical companies rCo under growing scrutiny rCo 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. IndianarCOs current single-drug protocol calls for an intravenous dose of
pentobarbital, a fast-acting barbiturate.

ItrCOs unlikely that any additional executions will be carried out at the state prison this year.

Five men remain on IndianarCOs 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 rCo a process that can take weeks or months.
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