McALESTER, Oklahoma – The man who was executed Thursday for the death of her daughter deserved “nothing less than today’s justice.”
“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,” Cummings said in a statement read by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond following the execution.
A Washita County jury sentenced Rojem to death for the July 1984 slaying of 7-year-old Layla Cummings. Rojem also got two 1,000-year sentences for rape and kidnapping.
Rojem, 66, was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, nearly 40 years after the death of the child. He was the longest-serving prisoner on death row in state history, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
The execution was held with “no incidents, issues or problems,” said Steven Harpe, executive director of ODOC.
“He deserved nothing less than today’s final justice for the savage, barbaric, and torturous acts of suffering he inflicted upon Layla-Dawn before then ending her life,” Mindy Cummings said in her statement.
Drummond also read a statement from Lisa Terrill, Layla Cummings’ sister.
“We understand that this is not easy for anyone. We put faith and trust into our criminal justice system to do the right thing and allowing us to feel safe and protected and to give us the closure that has been long overdue,” Terrill said. “Layla Dawn Cummings deserved a life, a full life in which she was robbed of at the very young age of 7 and our family was robbed of her in our lives forever.”
Sean Murphy, with the Associated Press, said that when Rojem was asked if he had any last words, he responded, “I don’t, I’ve said my goodbyes.” Murphy said the execution process began at 10:03 a.m. and Rojem was seen exchanging words with his spiritual adviser.
Murphy said Rojem turned his head toward the witnesses at 10:04 a.m. and appeared to yawn and emit “slight puffs of breath” at 10:05 a.m., with slight rapid breaths continuing until 10:08 a.m.
A consciousness check was conducted at 10:08 a.m., according to Murphy, with Rojem’s chest still moving until 10:10 a.m.
“His fingers did curl slightly, color started to drain from his face,” Murphy said before a doctor declared Rojem dead at 10:16 a.m.
Media witnesses said Rojem had five witnesses in attendance Thursday, with no witnesses from the Cummings family.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board unanimously denied clemency for Rojem earlier this month.
His attorneys argued during the hearing that Rojem was innocent and DNA evidence taken from the scene did not link him to the crime.
Attorneys from the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office argued there was plenty of evidence other than DNA that linked Rojem to Cummings’ death.
Evidence presented during the trial indicated Cummings was abducted from her residence during the early morning hours of July 7, 1984. Her body was found later that morning, with multiple stab wounds, in a field by a farmer.
Rojem’s first death sentence was thrown out by the state’s appeal court due to an issue with jury instructions. A new jury resentenced Rojem to the death penalty in 2003. That sentence was also thrown out due to a mistake during the jury selection process.
He was again resentenced to death in 2007 by a Washita County jury, with his appeals exhausting in 2017.
“I wasn’t a good human being for the first part of my life, and I don’t deny that,” Rojem told the Parole Board during his clemency hearing. “But I went to prison. I learned my lesson and I left all that behind.”
Dr. Elizabeth Overman, vice chair for the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said in a statement Rojem’s execution does not make Oklahoma safer.
“There is no data that shows fewer people commit crimes out of fear of capital punishment,” Overman said. “There are more effective, fiscally prudent means, such as life without parole.”
Rojem was the 13th person put to death by the state since resuming executions in 2021 following a nearly seven-year moratorium and the state’s second in 2024
The state’s next execution is expected to be scheduled for September 2024.