One week before Benjamin Ritchie’s scheduled execution, family and friends of slain Beech Grove law enforcement officer William Toney urged the Indiana Parole Board on Monday to reject the death row inmate’s bid for clemency.

The Indianapolis hearing was the second and final opportunity for the board to openly weigh Ritchie’s plea for a commuted sentence.

Ritchie, who has been on Indiana’s death row since his 2002 conviction, is set to be executed May 20 for the 2000 killing.

The five-member panel heard from a remorseful Ritchie at the Indiana State Prison last week, but the condemned man did not appear at the latest hearing in Indianapolis. Instead, the session was reserved for public comments from those who oppose — and support — clemency.

The governor, in tandem with the parole boar

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