The death sentence was carried out on 51-year-old Cedric Ricks at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. He was convicted of murdering his partner and her 8-year-old son. This was the first execution in Texas in 2026.

Execution carried out

Cedric Ricks was executed by lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Huntsville Unit prison.

Circumstances of the crime

Ricks was convicted of stabbing Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony to death in 2013; a second son survived by playing dead.

Last words

Before his death, the condemned man apologized to the victims' family for the evil and pain he caused.

Appeals rejected

The US Supreme Court rejected defense motions to halt the execution based on arguments of intellectual disability.

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, the death sentence was carried out on 51-year-old Cedric Ricks at the state prison in Huntsville. He was convicted of the brutal murder of his partner and her 8-year-old son. The execution was performed by administering a lethal injection of pentobarbital. The inmate's death was pronounced at 6:55 PM local time. This was the first execution carried out in the state of Texas in 2026. The death penalty is legal in Texas and 26 other US states. In 1982, Texas became the first jurisdiction in the world to carry out an execution by lethal injection, executing Charles Brooks Jr. at that time. Since then, the state has remained the leader in the number of death sentences carried out in the United States.

The crime took place in May 2013 in the town of Bedford, located near Fort Worth. Cedric Ricks attacked his 30-year-old partner Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figuero, stabbing them multiple times with a knife. The woman's second son, then 12-year-old Marcus Figuero, survived the attack by playing dead after being struck. The boy suffered severe injuries, but his actions allowed him to survive the massacre and later testify against the perpetrator.

Before the execution, the condemned man exercised his right to deliver his last words, addressing them directly to the family members of the victims present at the scene. Cedric Ricks expressed remorse for his actions and apologized for the pain he caused his own family and the family of the murdered victims. „I want to apologize to the Sanchez family and my family for all the pain I caused. I am truly sorry” — Cedric Ricks via Associated Press

The execution at the Huntsville Unit concluded a multi-year appeals process that had lasted since the man's conviction. Cedric Ricks became another person executed in the USA in recent months, fitting into the statistics regarding the use of the ultimate penalty in this country. The Case of Cedric Ricks: May 2013 — Crime in Bedford; 2014 — Death Sentence; March 11, 2026 — Execution

Mentioned People

  • Cedric Ricks — 51-year-old sentenced to death for the double murder of his partner and her son
  • Roxann Sanchez — 30-year-old murder victim, partner of Cedric Ricks
  • Anthony Figuero — 8-year-old murder victim, son of Roxann Sanchez
  • Marcus Figuero — Son of Roxann Sanchez, who survived the attack by playing dead