Current:Home > NewsOklahoma executes Richard Rojem for kidnapping, rape, murder of 7-year-old former stepdaughter-LoTradeCoin
Oklahoma executes Richard Rojem for kidnapping, rape, murder of 7-year-old former stepdaughter
View Date:2024-12-23 23:55:33
Oklahoma executed a man Thursday who was convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing his former stepdaughter, 7-year-old Layla Cummings, in 1984.
Richard Rojem, 66, had exhausted his appeals and received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Rojem had been in prison since 1985 and was the longest-serving inmate on Oklahoma's death row.
When asked if he had any last words, Rojem, who was strapped to a gurney and had an IV in his tattooed left arm, said: "I don't. I've said my goodbyes."
The execution started at 10:03 a.m., state Department of Corrections Director Steven Harpe said in a statement. Rojem looked briefly toward several witnesses who were inside a room next to the death chamber before the first drug, the sedative midazolam, began to flow. A spiritual adviser was in the death chamber with Rojem during the execution.
Rojem was declared unconscious at 10:08 a.m., Harpe said. He was declared dead at 10:16 a.m.
"Justice for Layla Cummings was finally served this morning with the execution of the monster responsible for her rape and murder," state Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement after the execution. "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."
Harpe said Rojem was served his last meal Wednesday at 5:48 p.m., which included a small Little Caesars pizza with double cheese and double pepperoni, a ginger ale and two vanilla ice cream cups.
During a clemency hearing earlier this month, Rojem denied responsibility for killing the girl. The child's mutilated and partially clothed body was discovered in a field in western Oklahoma near the town of Burns Flat. She had been stabbed to death.
"I wasn't a good human being for the first part of my life, and I don't deny that," said Rojem, handcuffed and wearing a red prison uniform, when he appeared via a video link from prison before the state's Pardon and Parole Board. "But I went to prison. I learned my lesson and I left all that behind."
The board unanimously denied Rojem's bid for mercy. Rojem's attorney, Jack Fisher, said there were no pending appeals that would have halted his execution.
Rojem was previously convicted of raping two teenage girls in Michigan and prosecutors allege he was angry at Layla Cummings because she reported that he sexually abused her, leading to his divorce from the girl's mother and his return to prison for violating his parole.
"For many years, the shock of losing her and the knowledge of the sheer terror, pain and suffering that she endured at the hands of this soulless monster was more than I could fathom how to survive day to day," Layla's mother, Mindy Lynn Cummings, wrote to the parole board.
Before the execution, Drummond said Rojem was a "real-life monster who deserves the same absence of mercy he showed to the child he savagely murdered," CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV reports.
Rojem's attorneys argued that DNA evidence taken from the girl's fingernails did not link him to the crime and urged the clemency board to recommend his life be spared and that his sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole.
"If my client's DNA is not present, he should not be convicted," Fisher said.
Prosecutors say plenty of evidence other than DNA was used to convict Rojem, including a fingerprint that was discovered outside the girl's apartment on a cup from a bar Rojem left just before the girl was kidnapped. A condom wrapper found near the girl's body also was linked to a used condom found in Rojem's bedroom, prosecutors said.
A Washita County jury convicted Rojem in 1985 after just 45 minutes of deliberations. His previous death sentences were twice overturned by appellate courts because of trial errors. A Custer County jury ultimately handed him his third death sentence in 2007.
With the execution of Rojem on Thursday, Oklahoma, which has executed more inmates per capita than any other state in the nation since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, has now carried out 13 executions since resuming lethal injections in October 2021 following a nearly six-year hiatus resulting from problems with executions in 2014 and 2015.
Death penalty opponents planned to hold vigils Thursday outside the governor's mansion in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
- In:
- Oklahoma
- Execution
veryGood! (14)
Related
- Question of a lifetime: Families prepare to confront 9/11 masterminds
- Proof Bradley Cooper and Gigi Hadid's Night Out Is Anything But Shallow
- NFL coaches diversity report 2023: Pittsburgh Steelers' staff still leads league
- 'The Holdovers' movie review: Paul Giamatti stars in an instant holiday classic
- Karol G addresses backlash to '+57' lyric: 'I still have a lot to learn'
- Nebraska pipeline opponent, Indonesian environmentalist receive Climate Breakthrough awards
- Arizona governor orders more funding for elections, paid leave for state workers serving at polls
- Portland, Oregon, teachers strike over class sizes, pay and resources
- Federal judge blocks Louisiana law that requires classrooms to display Ten Commandments
- Why Olivia Rodrigo and Actor Louis Partridge Are Sparking Romance Rumors
Ranking
- Fire crews gain greater control over destructive Southern California wildfire
- As more Palestinians with foreign citizenship leave Gaza, some families are left in the lurch
- Vanessa Marcil Pays Tribute to Ex-Fiancé Tyler Christopher After General Hospital Star’s Death
- Milk carton shortage leaves some schools scrambling for options
- 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant makes viral mistake: 'Treat yourself a round of sausage'
- $7.1 million awarded to Pennsylvania woman burned in cooking spray explosion
- $7.1 million awarded to Pennsylvania woman burned in cooking spray explosion
- Judge says Alabama lawmaker violated his bond conditions and will remain jailed through the weekend
Recommendation
-
Women suing over Idaho’s abortion ban describe dangerous pregnancies, becoming ‘medical refugees’
-
Teachers kick off strike in Portland, Oregon, over class sizes, pay and resources
-
The most 'magnetic' Zodiac sign? Meet 30 famous people that are Scorpios.
-
3 former New Mexico State basketball violated school sexual harassment policies, according to report
-
Man killed by police in Minnesota was being sought in death of his pregnant wife
-
Man killed after pursuit and shootout with Alaska authorities, troopers say
-
Alabama state Rep. Jeremy Gray announces bid for Congress in new Democratic-leaning district
-
Investigators focus on railway inspection practices after fatal Colorado train derailment