Ralph Baze was born on July 1, 1955. He grew up in Powell County, Kentucky. 

In 1992, Ralph Baze shot and killed two law enforcement officers in Powell County, Kentucky. The officers, Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe, were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Baze. Baze does not deny that he shot them but claims it was in self-defense.

After his conviction for the murders, Baze was sentenced to death. He was later incarcerated on death row at the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville. In September 2007, Baze was scheduled to be executed. However, he and another inmate, Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr., filed a lawsuit challenging their execution method. They argued that the lethal injection protocol used in Kentucky was cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

On September 12, 2007, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for Baze. The case went to the United States Supreme Court. On April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the Kentucky decision, stating that the lethal injection protocol did not violate constitutional rights.

As of now, Ralph Baze remains on death row in Kentucky.