Richard Rojem Jr., a 66-year-old Oklahoma man convicted of the 1984 rape and murder of his former stepdaughter, Layla Cummings, was executed on Thursday morning. Before his execution, Rojem was served a final meal consisting of two small double-cheese, double-pepperoni pizzas from Little Caesars, two cups of vanilla ice cream, and a bottle of Vernors ginger ale.
Rojem was put to death by a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was declared dead at 10:16 a.m., according to prison officials. When asked if he had any last words, Rojem, who was strapped to a gurney with an IV in his tattooed left arm, simply said, “I don’t. I’ve said my goodbyes.”
This execution marked Oklahoma’s second of 2024 and the 13th since the state resumed capital punishment in October 2021, following a hiatus of more than six years. Rojem had been in prison since 1985 and was the longest-serving inmate on Oklahoma’s death row.
Rojem had consistently denied responsibility for the murder of his former stepdaughter, Layla Cummings. The 7-year-old’s mutilated and partially clothed body was discovered in a field in rural Washita County near the town of Burns Flat on July 7, 1984. She had been kidnapped, raped, and stabbed to death.
“Justice for Layla Cummings was finally served this morning with the execution of the monster responsible for her rape and murder,” Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement following Rojem’s death. “Layla’s family has endured unimaginable suffering for almost 40 years. My prayer is that today’s action brings a sense of comfort to those who loved her.”
Earlier this month, Drummond had urged the state pardon and parole board to reject clemency for Rojem. He highlighted Rojem’s prior conviction for the rape of two teenage girls in Michigan, for which he had served four years in prison. Prosecutors argued that Rojem was angry at Cummings because she had reported that he sexually abused her, leading to his divorce from the girl’s mother and his return to prison for violating his parole. The couple had been divorced for about two months at the time of the murder.
Rojem’s attorneys argued at a clemency hearing that DNA evidence taken from the girl’s fingernails did not link him to the crime. “If my client’s DNA is not present, he should not be convicted,” attorney Jack Fisher said. However, prosecutors presented other evidence, including a fingerprint found outside the girl’s apartment on a cup from a bar Rojem had visited just before the girl was kidnapped. Additionally, a condom wrapper found near the girl’s body was linked to a used condom found in Rojem’s bedroom.
Rojem was convicted by a Washita County jury in 1985 after just 45 minutes of deliberations. His previous death sentences were twice overturned by appellate courts due to trial errors. Ultimately, a Custer County jury handed him his third death sentence in 2007.
Rojem, then 26, had married the victim’s mother, Mindy Cummings, while he was in prison for raping the two girls. She was the sister of his cellmate, and Rojem moved to Oklahoma after being paroled in 1982.
In a statement read by Drummond after the execution, Layla’s mother, Mindy Lynn Cummings, said: “We remember, honor, and hold her forever in our hearts as the sweet and precious 7-year-old she was. Today marks the final chapter of justice determined by three separate juries for Richard Rojem’s heinous acts nearly 40 years ago when he stole her away like the monster he was.”
During his time in prison, Rojem became a Zen Buddhist and was known by other followers as Daiji. “I wasn’t a good human being for the first part of my life, and I don’t deny that,” Rojem said at a parole board hearing earlier this month. “But I went to prison. I learned my lesson and I left all that behind.”
Despite his claims of reformation, the board unanimously denied Rojem’s bid for clemency. His attorney, Jack Fisher, confirmed that there were no pending appeals that could have halted the execution.
Oklahoma has executed more inmates per capita than any other state in the nation since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. With Rojem’s execution, the state has now carried out 13 executions since resuming lethal injections in October 2021, following a nearly six-year hiatus due to problems with executions in 2014 and 2015.
Death penalty opponents planned to hold vigils on Thursday outside the governor’s mansion in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Source: The Oklahoman, CBS/AP
