Latest news with #BeechGrovePoliceDepartment
Daily Mirror
20-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Witness to death row execution gives chilling account of inmate's final moments
Benjamin Ritchie became the second person executed in Indiana in 15 years on Tuesday as, more than two decades after killing a police officer, the inmate was given a lethal injection A murderer who shot a police officer was killed on death row on Tuesday - after the victim's family insisted "it's time" for the sentence. Benjamin Ritchie's lawyer described the moment the 45-year-old man was given the lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. Steve Schutte, the attorney, told reporters: "I couldn't see his face. He was lying flat by that time. He sat up, twitched, laid back down." Under state law, Ritchie was allowed five witnesses at his execution, including Mr Schutte. Before he became the second person executed in Indiana in 15 years, Ritchie uttered his last words: "I love my family, my friends, and all the support I've gotten. I hope they all find peace." The dad had been on death row since 2002 when he was convicted of killing Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a chase on foot. Mr Toney's family and friends stood outside the prison on Tuesday while the execution happened. Speaking last week ahead of the execution, Mr Toney's wife Dee Dee Horen said: "It's time. We're all tired. It is time for this chapter of my story, our story, to be closed. It's time for us to remember Bill, to remember Bill's life, and not his death." The US Supreme Court declined to take the case, exhausting all of Ritchie's legal options to fight the death sentence. The father ate his last meal - a Tour of Italy dish from Olive Garden, which consists of Chicken Parmigiana, Lasangna Classico and Fettuccine Alfredo on one plate - and was then put to rest. But his attorneys had argued the death penalty was not appropriate, claiming the man was no longer "the same person who committed that crime." Mr Schutte told the court: "This is a foolish, senseless, agonising waste of time and money." Anti-death penalty advocates gathered outside the jail on Tuesday too. Indiana only resumed executions in December after a years-long hiatus. The state is one of eight, also including Texas and Tennessee, to permit executions. Ritchie was 20 when he and others stole a van in Beech Grove, near Indianapolis. He then fired at Toney during a foot chase, killing him. At the time, Ritchie was on probation from a 1998 burglary conviction. Mr Toney, 31, had worked at the Beech Grove Police Department for two years. The married father of two was the first officer of the small department to be killed by gunfire in the line of duty. In April, a murderer finally apologised for killing a young mum - minutes before he was executed on death row in Texas. Moises Sandoval Mendoza had spent more than 20 years in a state prison in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of Rachelle O'Neil Tolleson, whom he strangled and stabbed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Indiana executes Benjamin Ritchie for young police officer's murder. Widow honors victim.
For a handful of years, Bill Toney's life was like the lyrics of a Kenny Chesney song he always listened to with his wife. "Life is good, the grass is green, the good lord smilin' on you and me. Gonna knock on wood." The Toneys were raising two young daughters and contributing to the Indiana community they loved, the Indianapolis suburb of Beech Grove. She was a schoolteacher and he was an officer at the Beech Grove Police Department, where no one on the force had ever been killed by gunfire. Until one terrible night on Sept. 29, 2000, when a car theft suspect Toney was chasing shot him four times, the fatal round hitting the officer just above his bulletproof vest and killing him the day before his 32nd birthday. The murder stunned Beech Grove and left a gaping void in the lives of Toney's family. One of his daughters was just 18 months old, and the other was 4. Now 25 years later, Toney's killer − Benjamin Ritchie − was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday, May 20, in Indiana's first execution this year. It was also the first of two executions on Tuesday alone, and the 17th in the nation. As Ritchie's life ends, USA TODAY is looking back at the case and most importantly, who Toney was. On Sept. 29, 2000, Benjamin Ritchie and two other men stole a van in Beech Grove, Indiana. A few hours later, police attempted to pull it over and a chase ensued. Officer Bill Toney responded to a call for backup. When the van crashed into a home, the suspects scattered. Toney chased Ritchie, who had been driving. Ritchie ran into a backyard, and when Toney followed him through a gate, Ritchie shot him. The city collectively mourned the young officer's death, and at least 1,000 people packed a local church for his funeral. Fellow officers carried Toney's flag-draped coffin. Toney was the oldest of four siblings and was became a father figure to his younger brothers and sister when their own dad died too young, said DeeDee Toney-Horen, Toney's widow. Toney-Horen said that she met Toney when the two were in high school. Ever the protector, the couple's romance started when she was about 17 after he warned her that she had shut one of her car doors on a seatbelt and it was hanging out of the car. The couple married in 1992 when they were about 23 years old and went on to have two daughters: Jessica Ann and Emily Kay. "Bill was a great dad. He loved throw the girls up in the air," Toney-Horn, who has since remarried, told USA TODAY. "He loved his family more than anything ... They brought him a lot of joy." At the age of 28, Toney achieved his dream to become a Beech Grove police officer. He was working as a draftsman for a cabinet company before he joined the police academy and worked hard to graduate. At Toney's funeral, then-police Chief Michael Curran said he remembered when the young man first strapped on his police belt, according to an archived story in the IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network. "His eyes sparkled, and he was as excited as a child on Christmas," Curran said. Toney-Horen said her husband just wanted to contribute to the community that he loved and that when he finally became a Beech Grove officer, their life came together. "He loved it ... he never dreaded to work, he didn't take days off," she said. "He wanted to make sure if he had the opportunity to steer somebody away from a life of crime, bad choices, that's what he wanted to do." She continued: "Life was just good. Things were going well." Ritchie's execution at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, roughly 60 miles east of Chicago, began just after midnight Tuesday, and Ritchie was pronounced dead at 12:45 a.m., according to the Indiana Department of Corrections. His last meal was the Tour de Italy from Olive Garden. "I love my family, my friends, and all the support I've gotten,' Ritchie said in his last words. 'I hope they all find peace." At a recent clemency hearing asking for mercy, Ritchie described the night of Toney's murder as "a train that left the station with no brakes." "Multiple bad decisions led to the loss of the life of a man who should be here today without the horrible actions that I took that night," he said. "There's not a night that goes by I don't think about that person … I'm so sorry for that night." Toney-Horen described the hearing as tough to sit through. "It's time," she told USA TODAY about the execution. "It's been exhausting and just emotional. I want to focus on Bill's life. I'm tired of talking about the way that he died." This September will mark the 25th anniversary of Toney's death. Like every year, Toney-Horen is organizing a memorial in his honor, but this time, she decided to do something big: raise money to add bulletproof glass to the patrol cars of the Beech Grove Police Department. Her hope, to make officers' jobs a little bit safer. It's what Toney would have wanted, she said. "I felt like it has been my duty over the years to be his voice and I have done that," she said. "And I have not backed down." Contributing: Nick Penzenstadler Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter at USA TODAY. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indiana executes Benjamin Ritchie for young police officer's murder
Chicago Tribune
20-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Indiana man set for execution at Michigan City prison in state's second since 2009
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — An Indiana man convicted in the 2000 killing of a police officer is set to receive a lethal injection early Tuesday in the state's second execution in 15 years. Benjamin Ritchie, 45, has been on death row for more than 20 years after being convicted in the fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a foot chase. Unless there's last-minute court action, Ritchie is scheduled to be executed 'before the hour of sunrise' at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to state officials. Indiana resumed executions in December after a yearslong hiatus due to a scarcity of lethal injection drugs nationwide. Prison officials provided photos of the execution chamber before Joseph Corcoran's execution, showing a space that looks like a sparse operating room with a gurney, fluorescent lighting, a floor drain and an adjacent viewing room. They have offered few other details about the process, including the time the executions take place. Among 27 states with death penalty laws, Indiana is one of two that bars media witnesses. The other, Wyoming, has conducted one execution in the last half-century. The Associated Press and other media organizations filed a federal lawsuit in Indiana seeking media access, but a federal judge denied a preliminary injunction last week that would have allowed journalists to witness Ritchie's execution and future ones. The judge found that barring the news media does not violate the First Amendment nor does it single out the news media for unequal treatment. The execution in Indiana is among 12 scheduled in eight states this year. Ritchie's execution and two others in Texas and Tennessee will be carried out this week. Ritchie was 20 when he and others stole a van in Beech Grove, near Indianapolis. He then fired four shots at Toney during a foot chase, killing him. At the time Ritchie was on probation from a 1998 burglary conviction. Toney, 31, had worked at the Beech Grove Police Department for two years. He was the first officer of the police department of roughly 30 officers to be killed by gunfire in the line of duty. The community of 14,000 people mourned the married father of two as a neighborly person who showed up to help others. When Toney died, 'Everyone of us involved, including Bill, had something stolen from them that they'll never get back,' said Deputy Police Chief Tom Hurrle, who worked with him. Relatives spoke at a clemency hearing last week, urging for the execution to move forward. 'It's time. We're all tired,' said Dee Dee Horen, who was Toney's wife. 'It is time for this chapter of my story, our story, to be closed. It's time for us to remember Bill, to remember Bill's life, and not his death.' Ritchie's attorneys have fought the death sentence, arguing his legal counsel at trial was ineffective because his lawyers failed to fully investigate and present evidence on his fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and childhood lead exposure. Current defense attorneys say Ritchie suffered 'severe brain damage' because his mother abused alcohol and drugs during pregnancy and has struggled with decision-making. He was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2005. 'He's finally come to have some coping skills. He's a different man,' said defense attorney Steven Schutte. Republican Gov. Mike Braun rejected Ritchie's clemency bid last week as the parole board recommended. Braun didn't explain his decision, but board members said Ritchie's case didn't meet the bar for commuting a sentence and cited a dozen violations during Ritchie's time in prison, including threatening others with violence. The Indiana Supreme Court denied a request to stop the execution, but two justices noted the jury didn't get accurate information about Ritchie's brain damage. Ritchie's attorneys challenged that decision in federal court, which a judge rejected. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the lower court on Sunday. A petition before the U.S. Supreme Court was still pending Monday. Disability rights advocates say Ritchie's brain damage should exclude him from the death penalty. Ritchie's 'capacity to fully appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct' was 'impaired at the time of his crime,' Dr. Megan Carter, who also testified before the parole board, said in a statement. Attorneys say Ritchie has changed during his more than two decades behind bars and shown remorse. In court as a young man, Ritchie smiled at Horen and laughed as the verdict was read. He told a parole board he deeply regrets his actions, especially how he acted with Toney's widow. 'I wish I could go back to the day in court, because that man's wife deserved to say everything she needed to say to me, and that punk kid should have just kept his mouth shut and let her say whatever she needed to say,' Ritchie said. 'That was her right. That was his family's right.' Ritchie has spent his last days getting visits from friends and family. Under state law, he's allowed up to five witnesses at his execution, which will include attorneys and friends. 'I've ruined my life and other people's lives, and I'm so sorry for that night,' he told the parole board earlier this month. 'You can't take back what you did.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Cop killer will become 2nd convict executed in Indiana since 2009
An Indiana man who was convicted of killing a police officer two decades ago is set to be the second person executed in the state since 2009. Benjamin Ritchie, 45, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison on Tuesday, May 20, before sunrise, "unless there's last-minute court action," according to the Associated Press. Ritchie has been on death row for over 20 years for the 2000 fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney. Ritchie was 20 when he and others stole a van in Beech Grove, near Indianapolis, the outlet reported. He shot the 31-year-old police officer and father of two daughters five times during a foot chase, killing him. He was also on probation at the time for a 1998 burglary conviction. INDIANA CARRIES OUT FIRST EXECUTION IN 15 YEARS AFTER INMATE CHOOSES BEN & JERRY'S ICE CREAM AS LAST MEAL "Officer William Toney lost his life 25 years ago serving the community he lived in," the Beech Grove Police Department shared in a statement with Fox News Digital. Read On The Fox News App "Taking a solemn oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of this great state, so that its citizens may lead a peaceful life. His life was violently taken from him by an individual whose actions adversely affected the innocent and ripped at the very fabric that holds society together," the statement continued. The Indiana Law Enforcement Memorial site added that Toney's life was taken one day before his 32nd birthday. Last Wednesday, the Indiana Parole Board rejected a clemency plea from Ritchie, who had petitioned the board to commute his death sentence to life without parole. Attorneys for Ritchie had argued he suffered from brain damage due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder and mistreatment as a toddler, FOX 59 reported. As a result, at the time of the shooting, he lacked the capacity "to process information quickly or make appropriate decisions in a complex situation he was unfamiliar with," according to an expert who spoke during the clemency hearing. South Carolina Convict Inches Closer To First Us Death By Firing Squad In 15 Years "I've ruined my life and other people's lives, and I'm so sorry for that night," Ritchie told the parole board, the AP reported. "You can't take back what you did." Relatives of Toney also spoke at a clemency hearing last week, urging officials to move forward with the execution. "It's time. We're all tired," Toney's widow said at the clemency hearing, per the AP. "It is time for this chapter of my story, our story, to be closed. It's time for us to remember Bill, to remember Bill's life, and not his death." Cop Killer Dies After 'Botched' Firing Squad Execution; Witness In The Room Reveals How It Happened Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said he followed the recommendation of the board and would allow the execution to proceed. "After carefully reviewing the unanimous recommendation from the State Parole Board, I have decided to allow the execution of Benjamin Ritchie to proceed as planned for May 20," Braun wrote in a statement. Ritchie's attorneys are challenging that decision in federal court and have also filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the AP, noting that the jury did not receive accurate information about Ritchie's brain damage. Ritchie's execution would mark the second inmate to be put to death in Indiana in 15 years, according to the AP. Indiana resumed executions in December after a year-long hiatus due to the scarcity of lethal injection drugs nationwide, the AP reported. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Cop killer will become 2nd convict executed in Indiana since 2009
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Indiana inmate to be executed Tuesday for fatal police shooting in 2000
May 19 (UPI) -- Indiana is set to execute an inmate early Tuesday morning, almost 25 years after he shot and killed Beech Grove Police Department officer William Toney. Authorities are set to administer the lethal infection to Benjamin Ritchie shortly after midnight Tuesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Ind. Indiana last December executed Joseph Corcoran, the state's first execution in approximately 15 years. Indiana had paused the procedure because of a lack of supply of lethal injection drugs. Gov. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who took office in January, last week refused to grant Ritchie clemency, following the recommendation of the Indiana Parole Board. Ritchie shot and killed Toney in September 2000 after the officer attempted to stop a stolen van. The vehicle crashed, leading to a foot chase through a residential neighborhood in Beech Grove, an Indianapolis suburb with a population of approximately 14,700 people in Marion County, Ind. Ritchie, who was 20 at the time, had been planning to commit an armed robbery with another man. He was also wanted in Ohio for a separate vehicle theft involving use of a weapon. Now 45, Ritchie was sentenced to death in October of 2002. Toney had been an officer for two years before the incident on Sept. 29, 2000. He was killed the day before his 32nd birthday. He was survived by his wife and two young daughters. Lawyers for Ritchie had argued that his abusive upbringing and a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome diagnosis were grounds for clemency. He has exhausted his appeals process at the state level. Indiana and Wyoming are the only two to employ the death penalty that do not permit media representatives to witness executions. A collective of journalists lost a court battle to force the state to permit witnesses, arguing the media has a First Amendment right to witness executions.
