Oklahoma to execute Richard Rojem Jr. for 1984 murder of 7-year-old step daughter

Doug Cunningham

June 27, 2024 at 9:24 a.m.·2 min read

UPI — Oklahoma will execute Richard Rojem, Jr. Thursday for the 1984 rape and murder of his then 7-year-old stepdaughter Layla Cummings. Rojem is scheduled to die by lethal injection. Photo courtesy Oklahoma Department of Corrections

June 27 (UPI) -- Oklahoma is set to execute Richard Rojem Jr. Thursday for the 1984 rape and murder of 7-year-old Layla Cummings.

Roejem, 66, is set to be executed by lethal injection at 11 a.m. EDT after he was unanimously denied clemency earlier this month.

Rojem was Layla's ex-stepfather as he married her mother, Mindy Cummings, but the marriage ended two months before the murder.

He was convicted in 1985 and sentenced to death twice before, however, those sentences were thrown out in 2001 and 2006 respectively due to issues with the jury.

"Forty years is a very long time to see the fulfillment of justice that his horrific crime deserves," Cummings wrote to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. "It's a long time to be concerned about our safety as long as this monster's alive."

Rojem has maintained his innocence, but his attorney said after exhausting appeals he has accepted his fate.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement June 17 he was glad the Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for Rojem.

"I am pleased the Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency for the monster who savagely raped and murdered an innocent child and caused unimaginable suffering for her family. Justice for Layla will be served when he is executed on June 27," Drummond said.

According to Drummond, Rojem served four years in prison in Michigan for rape of two teenage girls before he murdered Layla in Elk City in 1984.

Layla's aunt, Vicky Cummings, said the family has suffered unbearable pain during Rojem's incarceration.

"I have become weary all these years pressing against that prison door trying to keep him in," she said. "Having to relive and reiterate this horror time and time again."

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