[1] On July 6, 1984, at an apartment in Elk City, Oklahoma, 7-year-old Layla Dawn Marie Cummings, who was home alone with her brother, was kidnapped.
The perpetrator was Richard Norman Rojem Jr., who was previously married to her mother, who was out on a work shift at a fast food restaurant at the time of the incident.
[2][3] Prior to abducting her, Rojem was previously convicted of raping two teenage girls in Macomb County, Michigan in 1978.
It was stated in court that Cummings had reported her then stepfather for sexual violence and it caused Rojem to be sent to prison for violating his parole order.
Shortly before the abduction, Cummings's mother, who obtained a restraining order against Rojem, filed for divorce and it was granted in May 1984.
[6][3] Richard Rojem, who was remanded without bail at the Beckham County Jail, was charged on July 28, 1984, for the abduction, rape, and murder of Layla Cummings.
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned Rojem's death sentence and ordered that he should undergo a re-sentencing trial.
[13] Three years later, in 2006, Rojem's second death sentence was once again vacated by the higher courts due to procedural and trial errors, including the failure to dismiss three jurors for cause.
[22] In 1987, Rojem was also identified as a suspect behind the hiring of hitmen to kill the witnesses in the case against Bigler Stouffer, another death row inmate convicted of murdering a schoolteacher in 1985.
[27] However, it was delayed, and another death warrant was subsequently issued in October 1993, with Rojem's execution date rescheduled as February 15, 1994.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond applauded the parole board's decision, stating that Rojem, whom he described as a "monster who savagely raped and murdered an innocent child", did not deserve clemency and justice would be fully served once the execution went ahead.
[39] On June 27, 2024, nearly 40 years after murdering 7-year-old Layla Cummings, 66-year-old Richard Norman Rojem Jr. was formally put to death via lethal injection at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.
[47][48] According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Richard Rojem was the state's longest-serving death row prisoner at the time of his execution.
[49] In the aftermath, Layla Cummings's mother and brother moved to Portland, Oregon, where the former volunteered with a charity foundation aimed to help children who dealt with grief and loss.
[50] In response to Rojem's eventual execution, Cummings's surviving family members all welcomed the outcome, stating that justice had been served.
Cummings's aunt, whose brother was the girl's biological father, said that the rejection of clemency was a sign of healing and justice for the family.