Trending Now - Inmate's Last Words Reflect on Victims Before Execution
WHO:
Cedric Ricks, 51, Texas death row inmate
Roxann Sanchez, 30, victim
Anthony Figueroa, 8, victim
Marcus Figueroa, 12, surviving son of Roxann Sanchez
Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles
U.S. Supreme Court
WHAT:
Ricks apologized to the victims' family, saying, "I just hope one day you can find forgiveness in your heart, so you don't have to live with the pain anymore."
Ricks expressed to Marcus Figueroa, "I always thought about you, and I'm sorry that I took your mom and your brother away."
Ricks stated, "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."
Ricks was executed as the first execution of 2026.
Cedric Ricks was executed on March 10, 2026.
Ricks was convicted of capital murder in 2014.
Ricks stabbed Roxann Sanchez and Anthony Figueroa multiple times with a kitchen knife.
Ricks stabbed Marcus Figueroa 25 times but he survived.
Ricks was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital.
Ricks addressed seven relatives of his victims during his final statement.
WHERE:
Huntsville Unit prison, Huntsville, Texas
Bedford, Texas, a suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
Garvin County, Oklahoma, where Ricks was arrested
WHEN:
The attack occurred in May 2013.
Ricks was executed on March 10, 2026.
Ricks was convicted in 2014.
Ricks' final appeal was rejected on March 10, 2026.
WHY:
Ricks' attorneys argued that prosecutors improperly struck potential jurors based on race, but the Texas Attorney General’s Office stated that the jury selection decisions were race-neutral.
Ricks claimed he was defending himself during the attack.
Ricks had appeared in court the day before the killings on a prior assault charge involving Sanchez.
HOW:
Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car and confessed to the killings to family members before being arrested.
Ricks used a kitchen knife to stab the victims.
Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car and confessed to family members.
Authorities traced Ricks' cellphone to arrest him.
(UPDATED March 13, 2026 01:25 UTC)
In a significant event today, Ricks was executed, marking the first execution of 2026, and he offered an apology to the victims' family, expressing his hope for their forgiveness. He also addressed Marcus Figueroa, saying he always thought about him and regretted taking his mother and brother away, while sharing his desire to meet them in Heaven to apologize in person. Ricks had fled in Sanchez's car and confessed to the killings to family members before his arrest, despite his attorneys arguing that jurors were improperly struck based on race, a claim the Texas Attorney General’s Office refuted as race-neutral.
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(UPDATED March 12, 2026 19:19 UTC)
Cedric Ricks was executed on March 10, 2026, at the Huntsville Unit prison in Texas, after being convicted of capital murder for the 2013 stabbing deaths of Roxann Sanchez and her son, Anthony Figueroa. Ricks, who also attacked Sanchez's surviving son, Marcus, was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection, and he addressed the victims' relatives in his final statement. His final appeal was rejected on the same day as his execution, and he had claimed he was acting in self-defense during the attack.