Phoenix, Ariz. —Arizona is preparing to carry out its second execution of the year Friday morning, as convicted murderer Richard Kenneth Djerf faces lethal injection for the brutal 1993 killings of four members of a Phoenix family.
Djerf, 55, was convicted in 1996 of murdering his former friend Albert Luna Sr., Luna’s wife Patricia, and their two children, Rochelle, 18, and Damien, 5, in a revenge attack that shocked the state. Prosecutors said Djerf blamed the family after Luna’s son had stolen from him, and lured them to their home, where he bound, tortured, and killed them before setting the house on fire.
In the 1997 trial, Djerf waived his right to counsel and defended himself for the crimes. Here are some of the case docs.
The Arizona Supreme Court issued Djerf’s death warrant earlier this year after decades of appeals. His attorneys sought to delay the execution, citing the loss of key case documents during a 2022 cyberattack on the state’s public defender’s office, but the court denied the motion.
In a final statement released through his lawyers, Djerf said he would not seek clemency and expressed remorse.
“There are no words to undo what I did,” Djerf wrote. “I’ve carried that weight for 32 years, and I know the pain I caused can never be taken back. I am sorry.”
The Arizona Department of Corrections confirmed the execution will take place at the state prison in Florence at 10 a.m. using lethal injection, the state’s default method. Arizona’s last execution occurred in May, when officials carried out the death sentence of Aaron Gunches for a 2002 murder near Mesa.
Djerf’s case is among the state’s most notorious, coming from an era that saw several high-profile capital murder prosecutions in Maricopa County. At trial, jurors heard harrowing evidence of the Luna family’s final hours, including testimony that Djerf had planned the killings for weeks.
Arizona resumed executions in 2022 after an eight-year hiatus following the botched 2014 execution of Joseph Wood, during which the condemned prisoner gasped for nearly two hours. The state has since overhauled its execution protocols and drug procurement process under public scrutiny.
If carried out as scheduled, Djerf’s death will mark Arizona’s second execution in 2025 and the fifth since executions resumed.
Family members of the victims are expected to attend the execution, while anti-death penalty groups plan a candlelight vigil outside the prison gates Thursday evening.
