INDIANAPOLIS — Dee Dee Horen has waited almost 24 years for justice for her first husband, Beech Grove Police Ofc. Bill Toney, who was killed in the line of duty.
"I don't feel joy,” said Horen. “I don't feel happiness. I feel like that justice just needs to be served, and this is the justice that should be given to Bill."Benjamin Ritchie shot and killed Toney on Sept. 29, 2000. A pursuit of a suspect in a stolen van turned into a foot chase. Ritchie shot Toney five times, killing the 31-year-old husband and father of two daughters. Ritchie received the death penalty Oct. 15, 2002. All his state and federal appeals are long exhausted.
“I don't know,” said Horen. “I can't answer that yet. I've thought about it. Looking forward to is not the right word. Will I be there? I think yes. I don't need that to happen to be healed. I need it to happen for justice, and for a message, and for Bill. I don't need it for me. So maybe I'll be there. I'll entertain that when they actually say that it's going to happen on this day."Dee Dee Horen's husband, Beech Grove Ofc.