OKLAHOMA CITY (June 10, 2024) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond has requested that the state Pardon and Parole Board reject clemency for Richard Norman Rojem Jr., who is scheduled for execution on June 27.
Rojem was convicted and sentenced to death for the July 1984 kidnapping, rape, and murder of his 7-year-old former stepdaughter, Layla Dawn Cummings, in Washita County.
“The family of Layla Cummings has waited 40 years for justice to be done. Her killer is a real-life monster who deserves the same absence of mercy he showed to the child he savagely murdered. I urge the Pardon and Parole Board to reject the inmate’s absurd request for clemency and ensure justice is done for Layla,” Drummond stated.
Prior to the murder, Rojem had served only four years in a Michigan prison for the rape of two teenage girls.
A clemency hearing is set for June 17.