Texas man sentenced to death for stabbing girlfriend and 8-year-old son to death

Cedric Ricks was sentenced to death for the May 2013 slayings of Roxanne Sanchez, 30, and her son Anthony Figueroa in their apartment in Bedford, a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was injured in the attack.

Ricks, 51, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state prison in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston, just after 6 p.m. central time.

His lawyer has asked United States Supreme Court blocked his execution, arguing that prosecutors violated Ricks’ constitutional rights by eliminating potential jurors based on race. Ricks had previously appealed, alleging ineffective counsel and calling for evidence in the case to be suppressed, but that appeal was dismissed.

In its 1986 decision in Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court ruled that excluding jurors on the basis of race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

“At trial, Ricks had already raised suspicions that the state had selected minority jurors and excluded them from the jury pool,” Ricks’ attorneys said in a petition to the Supreme Court.

Ricks’ attorneys said notes prosecutors withheld from the jury selection process and were not obtained until 2021 show prosecutors picked minority jurors.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office said court records show prosecutors’ decisions on jury selection were “race-neutral” and that lower courts have concluded prosecutors did not act discriminatory.

The attorney general’s office said Ricks “viciously stabbed to death his girlfriend, Roxanne, and her eight-year-old son, Anthony.” “There is strong public interest in enforcing Ricks’ sentence.”

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The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied Ricks’ request for a 90-day suspended sentence or a reduced sentence.

Prosecutors said Rickles and Sanchez got into an argument in the apartment and Sanchez’s two sons from a previous marriage, Anthony and Marcus Figueroa, tried to break up the argument.

Court records show Ricks grabbed a knife from the kitchen and began stabbing Sanchez multiple times.

Marcus Figueroa ran to his bedroom closet and tried to call the police. After killing Anthony Figueroa, Rickles went on to stab Marcus Figueroa, who survived by pretending to be dead. According to court records, Ricks did not harm his son Isaiah, who was 9 months old at the time.

Ricks fled and was later captured in Oklahoma.

During the trial, Ricks testified that he had anger issues and had been defending himself after the two boys defended their mother.

“I’m frustrated as I explain my anger. Things happened. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I wish I could have them back, like I am now,” said Rickles, who also apologized for the killings.

The day before the stabbing, Ricks appeared in court after being charged with assaulting Sanchez in a previous incident.

If carried out, Ricks would be the second person executed in Texas this year and the sixth nationwide. Texas has carried out more executions than any other state in its history.

Alabama inmate Charles “Sonny” Burton, 75, was scheduled to be executed Thursday. But Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton was sentenced to death for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery, although he did not pull the trigger.