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Cedrick Allen Ricks, 51, was executed by lethal injection on 11 March
2026 in Huntsville, Texas for killing his live-in girlfriend and her
son during an argument.

Ricks and Roxann Sanchez lived together in an apartment in Bedford in
northeast Tarrant County. They had a child together, nine-month-old
Isaiah. Sanchez's two sons from a previous marriage--Marcus Figueroa,
12, and Anthony Figueroa, 8--also lived with them.

Shortly after 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 1 May 2013, Sanchez, 30, and her
three sons arrived home from the grocery store. Sanchez carried Isaiah
upstairs to their third-floor apartment, leaving some of the groceries
in the car. The three boys went to their bedroom to play while she
cooked dinner. About fifteen minutes later, Ricks, then 38, and
Sanchez began arguing. When the yelling turned into screaming, Marcus
and Anthony ran into the living room to see Ricks and Sanchez hitting
each other. Ricks pushed Sanchez to the floor. Marcus and Anthony
tried to get between them, but Ricks pushed Marcus down and continued
hitting Sanchez with his fists. Ricks then took a knife from a kitchen
drawer and stabbed Sanchez multiple times while she tried to protect
herself.

Marcus ran to his bedroom closet and tried to call the police, but
Ricks followed him and pulled the closet door open. Marcus dropped his
phone and grabbed the knife Ricks was holding, cutting his hand in the
process.

Ricks chased Marcus back into the living room. Anthony was standing
next to the couch with blood on his face, asking Marcus to get help.
Ricks pushed Marcus to the ground, held his head down, and stabbed him
multiple times in the back of his neck. Ricks then pushed Anthony to
the ground next to Marcus and stabbed him while he watched. Ricks
stopped stabbing Anthony after he made a gurgling noise. When Marcus
tried to get up, Ricks got on top of him and resumed stabbing him.
Marcus played dead by imitating the gurgling noise he heard Anthony
make. Ricks then stopped stabbing him.

Ricks then took the knife to the kitchen and washed his hands. He then
went to the master bedroom and took a shower. He made a telephone
call, packed his clothes, placed Isaiah in his crib, and eventually
left the apartment. Meanwhile, Marcus, who was bleeding badly,
remained motionless on the floor out of fear that Ricks would stab him
again if he got up. After Marcus was confident Ricks was not coming
back, he got up. He looked out of the window and noticed that his
mother's car was gone.

After leaving the apartment, Ricks called his cousin, Tamara Butts,
who lived in Mansfield, in southeast Tarrant County. He told Butts he
"did something bad" and asked to speak to her father, Joseph Sanders.
Ricks told Sanders he "messed up" and that he killed Sanchez and the
boys. He asked Sanders to get Isaiah from the apartment. He then told
Butts that he killed Sanchez, Marcus, and Anthony and that his hands
were injured and cut. He refused to tell Butts how he killed them or
where he was. Butts urged Ricks to turn himself in, but he replied
that he would rather die than go to jail.

Butts then called 9-1-1. She began driving with her parents to Bedford
to get Isaiah, but the police told them to go to the station instead.
Bedford police were dispatched to Ricks' apartment at 8:42 p.m.
Officer Clayton Baxley arrived first. He heard a baby screaming, but
was instructed to wait outside until another officer arrived. Marcus
then called 9-1-1 from inside the apartment. He told the operator that
his mother's boyfriend stabbed and killed his mother and brother and
left in his mother's car. Marcus was unable to open the door because
of the injuries on his hands, but Officer Baxley was then given
permission to enter. He found Marcus "covered in blood from head to
toe." The back of his head, neck, and shoulders were severely
lacerated and bleeding profusely. Marcus was taken to the hospital by helicopter. Isaiah was also taken as a precautionary measure; he was
found to be unharmed.

Autopsies on Sanchez and Anthony found that both died from stab wounds
to the head and neck. Blunt force head trauma and asphyxia were
contributing factors to Sanchez's death.

With the phone company's assistance, Ricks was located in Ardmore,
Oklahoma. Oklahoma state troopers located Sanchez's vehicle being
driven north on Interstate 35 at 10:30 p.m. They initiated a traffic
stop and matched the driver, Ricks, to the suspect in the murders. He
was booked into the Garvin County jail and then taken to a hospital to
receive treatment for his hands.

Bedford police arrived at the jail at 8:16 a.m. Ricks invoked his
right to counsel and refused to waive extradition to Texas. Later that
day he was taken to the hospital again to be treated for injuries
received from his cellmates, allegedly from a fight that started after
he told them he killed his girlfriend and her sons. He returned to
jail on the morning of 3 May and subsequently waived his extradition
rights.

Marcus recovered from his wounds. In addition to his testimony, the
prosecution presented a witness who heard Ricks yell at Sanchez on the stairwell while she was carrying two bags of groceries. He said,
"Don't have me [expletive] come down here and waste my [expletive]
time on this [expletive]."

Ricks' defense at his trial focused on constitutional challenges to
various pieces of evidence the prosecution presented, such as items
found in his apartment before a search warrant was issued, and what
the defense alleged was an improper traffic stop by Oklahoma state
troopers, who had observed no traffic violation.

At Ricks' punishment hearing, Sanchez's mother, Diana McGrewe,
testified that six months prior to the murders, Sanchez obtained an
emergency protective order against Ricks because he assaulted and
injured her. Cynthia Crowe, a triage nurse, testified that in November
2012, she saw Sanchez in the emergency room. Sanchez told Crowe that
she was a victim of domestic battery. Her head had been pounded on the
floor, and she had been choked until she passed out.

One day before the murders, Ricks had appeared in court on charges
from his previous assault of Sanchez.

Ricks admitted in court that he had trouble controlling his anger.

"Explaining my rage, I was upset," he said. "Things happen. I don't
know. I don't know. I wish I could bring them back, like, right now."

A jury convicted Ricks of capital murder in May 2014 and sentenced him
to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction
and sentence in October 2017. All of his subsequent appeals in state
and federal court were denied.

Marcus Figueroa, 25, was among seven family members who witnessed
Ricks' execution. A reporter noted that the scars from the 2013 attack
were still visible on the back of his neck.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for taking Roxann and Anthony from
y'all," Ricks said in his last statement. "I can't imagine the pain it
has caused you. I'm glad to be able to speak to tell y'all that face
to face."

Ricks said that he hoped his victims' relatives would be able to
forgive him. He then addressed Figueroa, saying he hated that he took
his mother and brother from him.

"I always thought about you and I'm sorry that I took your mom and
your brother away. I hate that you had to experience that, I just
canrCOt imagine, but I'm truly sorry for what I've done, and I wish
y'all peace and joy as much as you can but IrCOm sorry, thatrCOs all I can say," Ricks said. His voice cracking and tear forming in his eye, he
added that he hoped to find Sanchez and Anthony in Heaven and "tell
them IrCOm sorry face to face."

The reporter stated that Figueroa listened to Ricks without showing
any emotion.

After Ricks concluded his statement, the lethal injection was started.
He was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m.

David Carson
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents,
Associated Press.

David Carson
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents,
Associated Press.
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Texas Execution Information
www.txexecutions.org
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