Death row inmate from Oklahoma to be executed after 40 years in prison

Death row inmate Richard Rojem of Oklahoma is scheduled to be executed Thursday morning. He spent 40 years in prison for kidnapping, raping and murdering his seven-year-old stepdaughter.

Rojem was convicted and sentenced to death after his 7-year-old stepdaughter, Layla Dawn Cummings, was murdered in Elk City in 1984.

Now, 40 years later, Cummings’ family members said few words could describe the unbearable pain of losing their family member.

“I’m tired of pushing against the prison door for so many years, trying to keep him in,” said Vicky Cummings, Layla’s aunt. “Having to relive and repeat this horror over and over again.”

Over the past four decades, Rojem has been sentenced to death by three different juries, but the first two verdicts were overturned due to jury errors.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said Rojem was “a true monster who deserves the same mercilessness he showed to the child he brutally murdered.”

However, Rojem continues to maintain his innocence.

“An innocent person never pleads guilty to a crime he did not commit,” Rojem said. “The reason for this is obvious: if there should be justice, it will not be achieved.”

Rojem was unanimously denied a request for clemency in June and his execution is now scheduled for 10 a.m.

RELATED: Pardon for death row inmate Richard Rojem Jr. unanimously rejected