Indiana officials request execution date for Roy Lee Ward amid death penalty debate

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Indiana officials have requested an execution date for death row inmate Roy Lee Ward, even after Gov. Mike Braun said there were no plans to purchase additional drugs for lethal injections. 

Ward was sentenced to death for the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County. He’s one of six men still on death row, after Indiana ended its 15-year hiatus on capital punishment with the execution of Joseph Corcoran in Dec. 2024 and Benjamin Ritchie in May 2025.

“Governor Braun is aware of the filing [requesting an execution date],” spokesperson Griffin Reid told News 8 in a statement. “Once the date is set by the court, the Governor will order the Department of Correction to begin the necessary preparations and have his legal team begin reviewing the case details as the case moves through the final appeals process.”

News 8 was the first to report the state had to pay $275,000 for a new dose of pentobarbital for Ritchie’s death by lethal injection because two doses bought under Gov. Eric Holcomb had expired. 

Following Ritchie’s execution, Braun said the state would pause purchasing any new doses of the drug so lawmakers and the public could debate the future of the death penalty in Indiana. 

The state spent a total $1.175 million on pentobarbital, including expired doses and those used to execute Corcoran and Ritchie, but Indiana Department of Correction officials said they do not know how much it cost to carry out either of its two recent executions.

The request to set Ward’s execution date was filed on Friday. The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether to set a date.

News 8 has also reached out to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita for comment, but did not receive a response by publication.