INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered a final execution date for Roy Lee Ward, who was convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl.
According to documents filed on Wednesday, the Indiana Supreme Court denied Ward's appeal and ordered that his execution be carried out on Friday, October 10, 2025, before the hour of sunrise at the Indiana State Prison.
Court documents detail how, in July 2001, Ward persuaded Stacy to let him into her home in Dale, Indiana, where he raped and killed her.
A jury found Ward guilty in 2002, and the trial court imposed the recommended death sentence, according to court documents.
Ward challenged his conviction due to the court denying his motion for a change of venue. In 2004, in remand, Ward pled guilty to rape and murder, and the jury again recommended the death penalty. In 2009, Ward appealed again, and the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence, court documents say.
The court documents also indicate that on December 4, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana stayed Ward's execution date due to several federal appeals.
On July 27, 2025, court documents say that the state filed its “Verified Motion to Set Execution Date” and presented the following in support:
- Ward has no further grounds for state or federal courts to review whether his convictions or sentence are valid
- There is no active stay preventing his execution
"The Court finds there is no stay of execution now in effect, and we must complete our administrative task to set an execution date," reads a portion of the order.
