In brief
On Wednesday evening, Cedric Ricks, 51, was executed in Texas for the 2013 stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, and her son, Anthony Figueroa. Ricks offered a heartfelt apology to the surviving son, Marcus Figueroa, who bears scars from the brutal attack. As the lethal injection took effect, Ricks expressed his remorse and wished for peace for the victims' family. Ricks had previously claimed self-defense during his trial. The execution marked the second in Texas this year.
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man was put to death Wednesday evening for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in 2013, apologizing profusely to her older son who survived with multiple stab wounds and witnessed the execution.Cedric Ricks, 51, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Bedford. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was stabbed 25 times and feigned death in order to survive.Ricks apologized repeatedly to seven relatives of his victims who looked on, particularly Marcus Figueroa. The attack survivor showed no emotion, watching through a glass window just steps from where Ricks was strapped to a gurney. On the back of Marcus Figueroa’s neck, visible above his shirt collar and below his hair, were several scars apparently from the attack.“I want to say that I’m sorry for taking Roxann and Anthony from y’all,” Ricks said when asked by the warden if he had a final statement. “I’m glad to be able to speak to tell y’all that face to face.”He said he hoped one day that his victims’ relatives would be able to find it in their hearts to forgive him. He also addressed Marcus Figueroa, saying he hated that he took his mother and brother away.“Explaining my rage, I was upset. Things happen. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I wish I could bring them back, like, right now,” said Ricks, who also apologized at the time for the killings.On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ricks’ final appeal without comment. His attorneys had argued that prosecutors violated Ricks’ constitutional rights by eliminating potential jurors on the basis of race while selecting the trial panel. The Texas Attorney General’s Office stated that the prosecution’s jury selection decisions were “race neutral.”Ricks was the second person put to death this year in Texas and the sixth in the country, highlighting the state's prominent place in capital punishment.
