Indiana corrections officials carried out a state execution early this morning.

They used an anti-seizure medication to carry out the lethal injection at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City.  The prisoner, Benjamin Ritchie, shot and killed Beech Grove police officer Will Toney 25 years ago. A jury sentenced him to death two years later.

In a brief statement, the corrections department said the execution began after midnight and concluded at 12-46 A-M central time. It made no mention of complications but Indiana Public Broadcasting reported that Richie’s attorney Steve Schutte says his client  “violently sat up” and “twitched violently” as the drugs began flowing. Schutte called the execution unnecessary and cruel.

Ritchie’s execution was only the second carried out in Indiana since 2009 and the first this year. Indiana executed one state prisoner last year.

Six prisoners remain on death row at the Michigan City prison