Arizona executes Richard Djerf for killing 4 members of a family in Phoenix in 1993

The state of Arizona carried out its second execution this year as Richard Djerf died by lethal injection Friday morning in Florence.

It took about 15 minutes and a few tries for masked Corrections staff clad in all white to successfully insert IV lines into Richard Djerf’s arms.

And it took about the same amount of time for Djerf to die after the first syringe shot saline into his blood stream.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes watched it all then spoke at a news conference.

“Today should be about members of the Luna family who Richard Djerf brutally murdered that September day in 1993,” said Mayes.

Prosecutors say Djerf went on a rampage of revenge believing a co-worker burglarized his home. Djerf killed the man's parents, and 5-year-old brother. And raped and killed the boy's 18-year-old sister.

"I do not," replied Djerf when asked if he had any last words before being executed.

Djerf did not seek a last-minute clemency, and he previously apologized for his actions decades ago.

“Mr. Djerf’s last meal included a double cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato. Onion rings with ketchup, a slice of cherry pie, and whipped cream, and a 20 oz Pepsi with ice,” said John Barcello, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.

Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell also witnessed the execution.

Djerf’s execution was the fourth in the country this week and the 39th of the year.

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.

“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.