Benjamin Ritchie faced lethal injection early on Tuesday at Indiana State Prison for the killing of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney, marking the second execution in Indiana over the past fifteen years.

Ritchie shot Toney five times during a foot chase after stealing a van and was on probation for a prior burglary conviction at the time. Toney was the father of two daughters.

Indiana resumed executions last December following a lengthy pause due to nationwide shortages of lethal injection drugs. The state remains one of only two that bars media witnesses from executions, a policy recently upheld by a federal judge who ruled the restriction does not violate First Amendment protections.

Deputy Police Chief Tom Hurrle, who worked with Toney, reflected on the death of his former colleague, saying that “every one of us involved, including Bill, had something stolen from them that they’ll never get back.”

Toney's widow, Dee Dee Horen, urged officials to proceed with the execution during last week's clemency hearing. But attorneys for Ritchie have fought the sentence, arguing their client suffered “severe brain damage” from fetal alcohol exposure and childhood lead poisoning.

Indiana Republican Governor Mike Braun denied clemency as recommended by the parole board, citing the dozen prison violations from Ritchie and his threats of violence toward others.

Ritchie once laughed during court proceedings but has expressed remorse. “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,” he described.

In his final statement to the parole board earlier this month, Ritchie acknowledged that “I’ve ruined my life and other people’s lives, and I’m so sorry for that night.”