Texas Executes Cedric Ricks for 2013 Double Stabbing After Supreme Court Rejects Batson Appeal
Cedric Ricks, 51, was executed by lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Huntsville Unit in Texas and pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT on March 10, 2026, for the 2013 fatal stabbing of Roxann Sanchez and the near‑fatal stabbing of her 8‑year‑old son, Anthony “Marcus” Figueroa, whom prosecutors say Ricks stabbed 25 times and who survived by pretending to be dead. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ricks’ final appeal without comment on the day of the execution — leaving lower‑court findings that prosecutors’ strikes of minority jurors were race‑neutral — and authorities say Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car, called relatives to confess, and was arrested in Oklahoma after his cellphone was traced.
📌 Key Facts
- Cedric Ricks, 51, was executed by lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Huntsville Unit in Texas and was pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT on March 10, 2026.
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ricks’ final appeal on the day of the execution without comment, leaving in place lower-court rulings that prosecutors’ strikes of minority jurors were race‑neutral.
- In his final statement, Ricks apologized and addressed seven relatives of the victims, speaking directly to surviving son Marcus Figueroa.
- The victims included Roxann Sanchez and 8‑year‑old Anthony Figueroa; Marcus Figueroa was stabbed 25 times but survived by pretending to be dead.
- After the killings, Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car, called relatives to confess, and was arrested in Oklahoma after authorities traced his cellphone.
📊 Relevant Data
Cedric Ricks is Black, and the victims Roxann Sanchez and Anthony Figueroa are Hispanic.
Death Row Information — Texas Department of Criminal Justice
In Harris County, Texas, Latino-victim cases are dramatically underrepresented in death sentences relative to homicide rates, suggesting discrimination against Latino victims.
The Influence of Latino Ethnicity on the Imposition of the Death Penalty — Annual Review of Law and Social Science
Intimate partner homicide victimization rates are higher for Black non-Hispanic women (2.04 per 100,000) compared to White non-Hispanic women (0.72 per 100,000) and Hispanic women (below the overall rate of 0.91 per 100,000), with disparities attributable to structural factors such as poverty and residential segregation.
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Cedric Ricks, 51, was executed by lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Huntsville Unit in Texas and pronounced dead at 6:55 p.m. CDT on March 10, 2026.
- In his final statement, Ricks directly addressed seven relatives of victims Roxann Sanchez and 8‑year‑old Anthony Figueroa, apologizing and specifically speaking to surviving son Marcus Figueroa, whom he stabbed 25 times.
- The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ricks’ final appeal on the day of the execution without comment, leaving in place lower‑court rulings that prosecutors’ strikes of minority jurors were race‑neutral.
- The article provides additional crime‑scene detail, including that Marcus survived by pretending to be dead and that Ricks fled in Sanchez’s car, called relatives to confess, and was arrested in Oklahoma after authorities traced his cellphone.