Texas Death Row Inmate Apologizes Before Execution
A Texas death row inmate, Cedric Ricks, who killed his ex-girlfriend and her young son, used his last moments before execution on Wednesday to express remorse to the surviving family member. During the lethal injection process, he addressed the relatives of Roxanne Sanchez and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa, apologizing for his actions in the brutal 2013 attack.
Ricks, aged 51, was convicted in 2014 after the incident where he stabbed Sanchez 25 times during a heated argument in her apartment in Bedford, a suburb near Dallas. He acknowledged the pain his actions caused, particularly expressing sympathy to Marcus Figueroa, who witnessed the violence and survived. “I can’t imagine how much pain that must have caused you,” he said, hoping that Marcus would one day find it in his heart to forgive him.
As he addressed Marcus directly, Ricks continued, “I was thinking about you all the time. I’m sorry I took your mom and brother away.” He added a wish to reunite with the deceased in the afterlife, apologizing to them face-to-face.
Ricks was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. PDT after receiving a lethal injection at the Huntsville Prison. At the time of the tragic stabbing, Marcus was just 12 years old and sustained multiple stab wounds but managed to survive by pretending to be dead until Ricks left the scene. Ricks’s second son, Isaiah, was only 9 months old and escaped unharmed.
According to court documents, Sanchez died from a combination of injuries, including a stab wound to her neck. After the attack, Ricks fled in Sanchez’s vehicle, eventually confessing to the crime over the phone. He was apprehended in Oklahoma following a police manhunt.
While his trial included claims of acting in self-defense, it was revealed that Ricks had been in court on previous assault charges related to Sanchez just a day prior to the murder. His appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied without comment, despite his lawyers arguing about racial bias in jury selection. The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole also denied his request for clemency earlier this week.
