Gov. Mike Braun denied clemency to death row inmate Roy Lee Ward in an announcement early Monday morning.

“After carefully reviewing the unanimous recommendation from the State Parole Board, I have decided to allow the execution of Roy Lee Ward to proceed as planned for October 10,” he said.

Unless a court intervenes, Ward will be the third person executed since Indiana resumed capital punishment in December 2024, after more than a decade-long pause. Braun denied clemency for another death row inmate, Benjamin Ritchie, earlier this year.

The Indiana Parole Board last week recommended against granting clemency to Ward.

The five-member panel cited the “brutal nature” of Ward’s 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne, emphasizing that Payne was conscious during the attack and

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