Arizona executes a man for killing 4 members of a family in Phoenix in
1993
[October 18, 2025]
By JACQUES BILLEAUD and SEJAL GOVINDARAO
FLORENCE, Arizona (AP) — A man convicted of killing four members of a
Phoenix family over 30 years ago in an act of revenge over stolen goods
was put to death Friday in Arizona’s second execution of the year.
Richard Kenneth Djerf, 55, died by lethal injection for the killings of
Albert Luna Sr. and Patricia Luna; their daughter Rochelle Luna, 18; and
son Damien Luna, 5, at their home on Sept. 14, 1993. Djerf, who was in
prison for over 29 years, chose not to seek clemency.
His execution was the fourth in the country this week and the 39th of
the year.
“Those four innocent victims deserve justice, and their loved ones
deserve closure,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office
sought the execution.
Prosecutors said Djerf blamed another family member, Albert Luna Jr.,
who did not witness the killings, for an earlier theft of electronics
and a gun from his apartment. Djerf became obsessed with exacting
revenge and went to the home months later claiming to be delivering
flowers, prosecutors said.
Authorities say Djerf sexually assaulted Rochelle Luna and slashed her
throat; beat Albert Luna Sr. with an aluminum baseball bat then stabbed
and shot him; and tied Patricia and Damien Luna to kitchen chairs before
fatally shooting them.
Djerf declined to make any last statement. He did not put up any
resistance but took a few heavy breaths and emitted a brief snoring
sound after the lethal drugs were administered, John Barcello, deputy
director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and
Reentry, said during a news conference Friday.
No representatives of the victims were present, Barcello said.
It took about 10 minutes for the execution team to insert the IV lines
into his veins so the drugs could be administered. After the first of
two pentobarbital shots were given, he made several sounds, including a
grunt and puffing sound. About 15 minutes elapsed between the first
pentobarbital shot and the declaration that he was dead.
Barcello said Djerf’s veins “were not optimal” and it required a few
attempts to successfully place the IV.
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“By all accounts the process went according to plan and without any
incident,” Barcello said. A month ago, Djerf released a statement in
which he acknowledged carrying out the killings and apologized for
the pain he caused.
Arizona has been criticized in the past for taking too long to
insert IVs during lethal injection executions. Experts say it should
take seven to 10 minutes from the beginning of insertion until a
proclamation of death.
The state has paused executions twice since 2014 amid concerns over
its use of the death penalty.
There was a nearly eight-year hiatus brought on by difficulties in
obtaining the needed drugs and criticism that a 2014 execution was
botched: Joseph Wood was injected with 15 doses of a two-drug
combination over two hours, leading him to snort repeatedly and gasp
hundreds of times before he died.
Executions resumed in 2022, and three prisoners were put to death
that year. They were paused again in 2023 after Democratic Gov.
Katie Hobbs ordered a review of the capital punishment protocol and
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes agreed not to pursue any
executions.
The review ended in November 2024, when Hobbs fired a retired
federal magistrate she had appointed to examine execution
procedures, and the state corrections department announced changes
in the lethal injection team.
Arizona last carried out a death sentence in mid-March, executing
Aaron Brian Gunches for the 2002 killing of Ted Price.
With Djerf’s execution, there are now 107 prisoners on Arizona’s
death row.
Five more executions are scheduled in the U.S. this year — two in
Florida and one each in Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee, according
to the Death Penalty Information Center.
___
Billeaud reported from Phoenix.
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