Oklahoma executes man convicted of 1984 rape and murder of his 7-year-old, former stepdaughter
Layla Cummings, 7, was killed July 7, 1984, after being kidnapped and raped. (Photo provided by Oklahoma Attorney General's Office.)
OKLAHOMA CITY – Convicted killer Richard Norman Rojem, Jr., was executed Thursday by lethal injection in the 40-year-old killing of his former stepdaughter, who was 7 when she died.
He was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.
Rojem was sentenced to die for the July 7, 1984 kidnapping, rape and murder of Layla Cummings, 7.
She was kidnapped from her Elk City apartment. The child’s body was found in a field about 20 miles away near Burns Flat, where she was face-down in her mother’s nightgown.
She sustained three stab wounds, according to the medical examiner’s report.
“Justice for Layla Cummings was finally served this morning with the execution of the monster responsible for her rape and murder,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said. “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.”
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board earlier this month unanimously declined to recommend clemency to Gov. Kevin Stitt.
His defense team argued the quality of the evidence was not sufficient to warrant death. They also said he did not kill her.
Rojem spoke to the board, saying he did not kidnap, rape or kill her.
“I cannot maintain a count of how old she would be each year, had she lived,” her mother, Mindy Cummings wrote in a letter given to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. “For me, it is meaningless. Everything she might have been was stolen from her, one horrific night. She never got to be more than the precious 7-year-old that she was. And so she remains in our hearts – forever 7.”
Rojem was the second person Oklahoma put to death this year.
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