An Oklahoma man convicted of raping and murdering his 7-year-old former stepdaughter in 1985 was executed on Thursday morning
Richard Rojem Jr, 66, maintained his innocence up until his execution by lethal injection for raping and stabbing to death Layla Dawn Cummings, the 7-year-old daughter of his ex-wife, Mindy Cummings.
Rojem was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. local time at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, approximately 90 miles south of Tulsa. He did not have any final words, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
Layla’s body was found in a field two months after Rojem and her mother, Mindy Cummings, divorced. The girl was found with stab wounds and dressed in her mother’s nightgown.
During a parole board hearing earlier this month, Cummings said that “everything” the little girl could have become "was stolen from her one horrific night," USA Today reports.
“She never got to be more than the precious 7-year-old that she was. And so she remains in our hearts — forever 7,” she said.
Rojem has always maintained his innocence.
“I did not kidnap Layla. I did not rape Layla. And I did not murder Layla,” he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board during a clemency hearing.
On the night of July 6, 1984, Cummings left her children, Layla and a 9-year-old brother, home alone while she went to work at a local fast food restaurant, according to USA Today.
At some point during the evening, Layla was abducted from Cummings' apartment.
The next morning, a farmer found Layla’s body in a field approximately 15 miles from her home in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, according to court records.
Rojem and Cummings met while he was serving time in a Michigan prison for raping two teenage girls. Cummings’ brother was Rojem’s cellmate at the time.
Prosecutors argued that Rojem knew Cummings’ work schedule and also knew the lock on her door was broken at the time Layla was abducted.
On May 31, 1985, a jury convicted Rojem, and he was ultimately sentenced to death.
Rojem appealed his death sentence numerous times up until 2017, when he exhausted his option to appeal.
He won two of his appeals, which resulted in his first and second death sentence convictions being tossed out in 2001 and 2006, respectively. Both times his appeals were granted based on issues found with the jury.
In 2007, a jury sentenced him to death for a third time. After that, Rojem did not win any of his appeals.
At a June 17 clemency hearing, he insisted he didn’t kill the little girl and apologized for his past actions.
"I wasn’t a good human being for the first part of my life, and I don’t deny that,” Rojem said. “But I went to prison. I learned my lesson and I left all that behind.”
But his request for clemency was denied.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a statement following Rojem’s execution, saying justice “was finally served.”
“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,” he said.
Cummings attended Rojem’s execution, and said in a statement that Rojem “deserved nothing less than today’s final justice for the savage, barbaric, and torturous acts of suffering he inflicted” upon her daughter.
“Today, as we near the anniversary of Layla-Dawn’s horrific death on July 7th, we remember, honor, and hold her forever in our hearts as the sweet and precious 7-year-old she was,” she said.
She also said that the family was honoring the memory of Layla’s father, Don Cummings. He died by suicide shortly after Rojem’s initial trial in 1985, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s parole documents.
Cummings said that Don Cummings died by suicide "due to the absolute evil of a monster who purposesly tormented him to the brink of despair that ended his life.”
“We are grateful today for justice served and the peace of knowing that Richard Rojem can never hurt us or any other person again,” Cummings said.
