In his final moments, facing lethal injection, Cedric Ricks offered a direct apology to the family of the woman and child he brutally murdered. The Texas death row inmate addressed seven grieving relatives, his voice carrying across the sterile confines of the Huntsville Unit prison.
Ricks, 51, expressed remorse for “taking Roxann and Anthony away from y’all,” a chilling acknowledgment of the lives extinguished in a fit of rage. He pleaded for forgiveness, a desperate hope that they might one day find peace from the agonizing pain he inflicted.
The 2013 attack unfolded in a Bedford apartment during a heated argument between Ricks and Roxann Sanchez, 30. When her two sons attempted to intervene, Ricks turned a kitchen knife on them with terrifying violence.
Roxann and her eight-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa, died from multiple stab wounds. But the horror didn’t end there. Twelve-year-old Marcus Figueroa endured a harrowing ordeal, stabbed 25 times, yet somehow survived.
Marcus, bearing the visible scars on his neck as a constant reminder, stood just feet from the gurney, his face betraying no emotion. Ricks directly addressed the young survivor, acknowledging the unimaginable trauma he endured.
“To Marcus, I always thought about you, and I’m sorry that I took your mom and your brother away,” Ricks said, his voice heavy with a belated regret. “I hate that you had to experience that… I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done.”
Remarkably, Ricks spared his own nine-month-old son, Isaiah, who was present during the attack. This detail offered a chilling glimpse into the selective nature of his rage, a horrifying contrast to the violence he unleashed on others.
After the attack, Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car, then confessed to family members before being apprehended in Oklahoma. The evidence painted a grim picture: Sanchez died from stab wounds, blunt force trauma, and asphyxia.
At trial, Ricks claimed self-defense, alleging he acted after the boys intervened. However, court records revealed he had appeared in court the day before the murders on a prior assault charge involving Sanchez, suggesting a pattern of abuse.
Despite last-minute appeals arguing racial bias in jury selection, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Ricks’ request for a stay. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had also rejected his plea for clemency.
At 6:55 p.m. CDT, Cedric Ricks was pronounced dead after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital. His final words expressed a longing for reconciliation, hoping to one day apologize to his victims in Heaven.
“I hope to find Roxann and Anthony in Heaven, and I can tell them I’m sorry face to face… I hope y’all go in peace,” he said, a final, desperate plea echoing in the chamber.
