A Texas man convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her young son in 2013 faces execution on Wednesday.
Cedric Ricks, 51, is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the capital murders of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa, in Bedford in 2013.
The execution at the state penitentiary would mark the second in Texas this year. Ricks, who was 38 at the time of the killings, received a death sentence in 2014 following a Tarrant County jury trial.
Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, survived 25 stab wounds to the neck, chest, hands, and face. He testified that he imitated the gurgling sound his brother Anthony made, prompting Ricks to stop the attack. Marcus then summoned help after Ricks left.
An 8-month-old child present in the home escaped harm.
The violence erupted during an argument at Sanchez’s apartment in the 1400 block of Park Place Avenue. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Sanchez’s death resulted from stab wounds to the neck, blunt force head injuries, and asphyxia.
Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car, called family members to confess, and was tracked via cellphone to Garvin County, Oklahoma, where authorities arrested him. Inmates assaulted him there, though the reason remains unclear.
After extradition to North Texas, Ricks requested solitary confinement over safety concerns. His trial, which began about a year later, included testimony by Marcus Figueroa. Jurors convicted Ricks of capital murder in under an hour and deliberated roughly seven hours before imposing death.
The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty issued a call to action, seeking clemency for Ricks.
“Cedric Ricks’s mother, loved ones, and friends ask for mercy. They, and Cedric, recognize the harm his actions have caused, but request mercy in light of his rehabilitation and spiritual growth since his incarceration. Please do everything in your power to stop his execution,” TCADP wrote on its website.
