May 20 (UPI) -- The State of Indiana executed a 45-year-old man on Tuesday for the 2000 murder of a police officer, making him the 17th person to have their death sentence carried out in the United States this year.
Benjamin Donnie Ritchie was executed by lethal injection, with the execution process starting at about 12 a.m. DCT Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m., the Indiana Department of Corrections said in a statement.
"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."
Prison officials said his last meal was the Tour of Italy from Olive Garden.
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Ritchie was sentenced to death in 2002 for the fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police officer William "Bill" Toney two years earlier. His execution was carried out following a Monday night Supreme Court denial of an 11-hour request for a stay of execution.
Attorney General Todd Rokita of Indiana said in a statement shortly after Ritchie was confirmed dead that "justice was done to honor officer Toney's sacrifice for his community."
"We have reaffirmed our commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting our communities," he said. "Let this serve as a message to those who would harm our men and women in law enforcement."
According to court documents, Ritchie fatally shot Toney following a police chase on Sept. 29, 2000.
Ritchie and two accomplices had stolen a van from a gas station in Beech Grove, located just southeast of Indianapolis.
The van was reported stolen and was spotted later that night by a police patrol, which pursued the vehicle.
Amid the chase, the van pulled into a residential yard, where Ritchie and another occupant of the vehicle fled on foot, prompting Toney to pursue Ritchie.
Ritchie turned and fired four shots at Toney, who died at the scene.
Ritchie, who was on probation at the time of the crime for a 1998 burglary, was convicted of murder by a jury and sentenced to death.
It was the first execution in Indiana this year and the first in the state since Indiana killed Joseph Corcoran in December, which was Indiana's first execution in 15 years.
There have been 17 executions in the United States so far this year, with the 18th scheduled for later Tuesday.
In Texas, death row inmate Matthew Johnson is set to die by lethal injection.
