INDIANA: Authorities in the US state of Indiana have executed 53-year-old Roy Lee Ward, who was convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, Stacy Payne.
Ward was put to death by lethal injection shortly after midnight on Friday at the state prison in Michigan City, the Indiana Department of Correction confirmed.
He had been sentenced to death in 2002 for attacking Payne in her home in Dale, repeatedly stabbing her before being arrested at the scene while still holding a knife. Payne died from her injuries several hours later.
The execution marks the third in Indiana since the state resumed capital punishment last year after a 15-year pause caused by difficulties sourcing lethal injection drugs.
Officials said Ward’s final meal consisted of a hamburger, steak melt, fries, shrimp, and breadsticks.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the US has now carried out 35 executions in 2025, equalling the total recorded in 2014. Florida leads with 13 executions this year, followed by Texas (5), South Carolina (4), and Alabama (4).
Of the total, 28 inmates were executed by lethal injection, two by firing squad, and four by nitrogen hypoxia a controversial method involving the inhalation of nitrogen gas, which UN experts have condemned as cruel and inhumane.
Currently, 23 US states have abolished the death penalty, while California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania maintain official moratoriums.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for expanding capital punishment “for the vilest crimes,” reiterating the stance upon assuming office.
