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Thread: Cedric Allen Ricks - Texas Death Row

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    Cedric Allen Ricks - Texas Death Row


    Anthony Reyes Figueroa, 8, and mom





    Tarrant County seeks death penalty in double homicide

    Tarrant County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his estranged girlfriend and her 8-year-old son.

    Officials with the Tarrant County district attorney's office say Cedric Allen Ricks fatally stabbed Roxann Dianna Sanchez, 30, and her son, Anthony Reyes Figueroa, 8, inside her apartment in Bedford on May 1.

    Police found the bodies at an apartment in the 1400 block of Park Place Boulevard at the Colonial Village at Shoal Creek complex after receiving 911 calls, including 1 from Sanchez's other son, 12-year-old Marcus Figueroa, who had also been stabbed.

    Marcus Figueroa survived his attack.

    Prosecutors offered Ricks a plea bargain for life in prison without parole, but he rejected it, according to a court document filed with the Tarrant County district clerk's office.

    Ricks' trial is scheduled for May 5.

    "The decision to seek the death penalty is made on a case-by-case basis," said Melody McDonald, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office. "Because this case is pending, it would be inappropriate to discuss the specific reasons for this decision at this time."

    Ricks, who was captured in Oklahoma, had been free on a $7,500 bond in a previous assault case when the stabbings occurred. Ricks had been indicted in December 2012 on an assault charge, accused of choking Sanchez on Nov. 11.

    'Where did he hurt you?'

    On the night of the fatal stabbings, a woman called 911 and told dispatchers that "my cousin just called and said he killed his girlfriend and her 2 sons."

    Minutes later, Marcus Figueroa called, saying: "My mom's boyfriend just killed my mom and my other brother. Please hurry. Please," he said, starting to cry before gathering himself again.

    The dispatcher asked whether he was hurt, and he answered, "Yes."

    "Where did he hurt you?"

    "Everywhere."

    When police arrived, they found Sanchez and Anthony Figueroa dead.

    The couple's 8-month-old son could be heard crying in the background of the 911 call. He was uninjured.

    Marcus Figueroa was covered in blood from multiple stab wounds.

    Last death penalty case

    The most recent person to receive the death penalty in Tarrant County was Steven Lawayne Nelson, who was convicted in October 2012 in the murder of Clint Dobson.

    Dobson, a 28-year-old pastor, was in his office at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington when he was killed during a robbery on March 3, 2011.

    Nelson also beat and severely injured Dobson's secretary, Judy Elliott.

    Nelson has also been accused of killing a Tarrant County inmate while he was in jail awaiting trial. That capital murder case is pending.

    Nelson, 26, is on death row.

    (Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Man faces death penalty in Bedford double homicide

    FORT WORTH — A Tarrant County prosecutor warned jurors Monday that they are not prepared for the brutality and horror of this case.

    The bodies of Roxann Sanchez, 30, and her son, Anthony Figueroa, 8, were found May 1, 2013, by Bedford police at their blood-splattered apartment in the 1400 block of Park Place Avenue. Anthony’s brother, Marcus Figueroa, 12, was severly wounded in the attack. An 8-month-old boy was unharmed.

    Cedric Allen Ricks, Sanchez’s estranged boyfriend, was indicted on a capital murder charge in connection with the slayings. His trial began Monday.

    Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Ricks, who rejected an offer of life without parole by prosecutors earlier this year. It is the first time Tarrant County has sought the death penalty since 2012, when Steve Lawayane Nelson was sent to Death Row after being convicted in the murder of Arlington pastor Clint Dobson.

    Tamara Butts, Ricks’ cousin, testified on Monday that Ricks called her shortly after the murders were believed to have occurred. Ricks told Butts that he did something bad but would not tell her what, Butts testified.

    Butts handed her phone to Ricks’ uncle, Joseph Sanders, who also testified Monday.

    Sanders said Ricks told him that he had “killed Roxy and the boys,” but his uncle did not want to believe that.

    “I said that could not possibly be true,” Sanders testified.

    Ricks asked his relatives to go to his apartment and get his 8-month-old son, Butts said. Instead, Butts called 911, she testified.

    “I urged him to turn himself in,” Butts testified. “He (Ricks) said he wasn’t going to jail.”

    A few minutes later Marcus called 911, telling dispatchers that “my mom’s boyfriend just killed my mom and other brother. Please hurry. Please.”

    The 8-month-old boy could be heard crying in the background.

    When police arrived at the scene, they found Marcus standing behind the front door, covered in blood from wounds to the back of his head.

    “There was a lot of heavy damage,” said Clayton Baxley, Arlington patrol officer. “There were severe lacerations in the back of his head. You could see all the way through to his skull.”

    Marcus was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth by helicopter ambulance, Baxley said. Police followed because the suspect in the stabbings was free and police were concerned that he might try to kill Marcus at the hospital, Baxley said.

    Less than three hours later, Ricks was in jail after being tracked through his cellphone to Ardmore, Okla. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol found Ricks driving Sanchez's Nissan Altima and arrested him.

    Testimony was expected to continue Tuesday in state District Judge Mollee Westfall’s court.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05...ford.html?rh=1


    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Boy who says he witnessed murder of mom, brother testifies at trial

    Tuesday was a difficult day in court for jurors hearing a capital murder case in which a man is charged with stabbing his former girlfriend and her son to death.

    Cedric Ricks faces capital murder charges for the stabbing deaths of Roxann Sanchez and her son, 8-year-old Anthony Figueroa.

    The murders were allegedly witnessed by Sanchez's then-12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, who was injured but survived.

    Marcus told jurors on Tuesday that his mom and Ricks argued at their Bedford apartment the night of May 1, 2013, and that Ricks took a knife out of a kitchen drawer and began stabbing the three of them.

    Marcus described how he ran to a closet and tried to hide, but Ricks came after him.

    After seeing his mom and brother die, Marcus was still trying to get to his phone to call for help. When he got up, he says Ricks came back for more.

    When he was asked where he was stabbed and how many times, Marcus said in the back of the neck and a bunch of times.

    Marcus had to be taken to the hospital by helicopter. His baby brother, an 8-month-old child shared by Ricks and Sanchez, was unharmed.

    The penalty if Ricks is found guilty could be life in prison without parole, or death.

    http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/254466...#ixzz30yxRC0Y6
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    Bedford Man Convicted of Fatally Stabbing Ex-Girlfriend, Her Son

    The man accused of killing his estranged girlfriend and her 8-year-old son has been found guilty of capital murder.

    A jury spent about an hour deliberating before convicting Cedric Ricks of capital murder for fatally stabbing his estranged girlfriend Roxann Diana Sanchez, 30, and her son, Anthony Reyes Figueroa, inside their Bedford apartment in 2013.

    The punishment phase for the trial begins later Wednesday. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

    Ricks was also accused of stabbing Sanchez's 12-year-old son during the attack. No verdict was announced for that charge.

    Ricks was charged with capital murder in May 2013 after he fled the state and was arrested in Oklahoma. His bond was set at $4 million for the capital murder charges and an additional $500,000 bond for a charge of injury to a child.

    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Bed...258322921.html

  5. #5
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    Bedford woman’s killer has history of violence, an ex-girlfriend testifies

    FORT WORTH — Before he met Roxann Sanchez, the Bedford woman he killed last year, Cedric Ricks lived with Jennifer Clark for about a year.

    As the relationship deteriorated, during one argument Ricks called her fat and she threw a candle at him, Clark testified Thursday.

    Clark ordered Ricks to leave her house and said she would call police if he didn’t. Ricks’ response: If you do, I’ll kill you, Clark testified.

    That’s when she pulled out a shotgun.

    “I will not be the first to die,” Clark said she told Ricks.

    Clark was called to the stand Thursday by Tarrant County prosecutors who are trying to persuade jurors to sentence Ricks to death by, among other things, showing that he poses a continuing threat to society. His defense attorneys will try to demonstrate mitigating factors in his character or background that warrant a sentence of life without parole.

    On Wednesday, the jury convicted Ricks of fatally stabbing Sanchez, 30, and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa.

    Ricks also stabbed Marcus Figueroa, Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, and left him bleeding on the floor of their Bedford apartment on May 1, 2013. Marcus survived and testified this week in the guilt-innocence phase of Ricks’ trial.

    Jealous, unfaithful

    Clark said she met Ricks on Tru.com, a dating website that she worked for in 2009.

    After a few weeks of texting and sending messages, they met, Clark said. About three months later, Ricks moved in with Clark and her daughter, she said.

    In 2010, Clark’s ex-husband was murdered, and Ricks became jealous of her grief, Clark said.

    Ricks “got upset and said, ‘You must still love him because you’re crying over him,’ ” Clark said. “I didn’t really have time to grieve because I was afraid of upsetting him.”

    And there were other things.

    “There were text messages to other women, pictures of him with other women,” Clark said. “I just didn’t feel like he was being faithful.”

    After the argument that ended with the shotgun, Clark testified, Ricks asked her to let him stay, but she gave him a letter asking him to leave within 30 days. He was gone before her deadline.

    One woman after another


    Also Thursday, prosecutors Robert Huseman and Bob Gill called family and friends of Roxann Sanchez.

    Her mother, Diane McGrew, had testified Wednesday that Sanchez was married to Reyes Figueroa, the father of her two sons, about the same time that Ricks was moving out of Clark’s house.

    Sanchez and Figueroa separated in 2012, McGrew testified.

    “Right after that, Roxann met Ricks,” McGrew said.

    Ricks and Sanchez met at her job, where she trained him to be a medical assistant, Sanchez’s friend Amanda Gomez testified Thursday.

    It wasn’t long before Ricks moved in with Sanchez and her two sons, and Sanchez became pregnant with Ricks’ child soon after they began dating, Gomez said.

    On Nov. 11, 2012, Sanchez filed an assault complaint against Ricks that sent him to jail.

    But then Sanchez asked Gomez to help get Ricks out of jail, Gomez testified.

    “She loved him,” Gomez said. “She thought he was going to get help, and she wanted a father for her baby. I told Roxann I couldn’t put my name on Cedric’s bond because what if he didn’t stop? I couldn’t have that on my shoulders.”

    After Ricks was released, he moved back in with Sanchez, but she was planning an escape, Gomez said.

    “I saw Roxann the Friday before she was murdered,” Gomez said. “She signed a lease for a new apartment. She was leaving Cedric and starting all over. Her move date was going to be the first or second week in June.”

    Their last goodbye was a little out of the ordinary for them.

    “Roxann hugged me for a really long time,” Gomez testified. “We were best friends, but we’re not the touchy-feely type. We were walking out of the leasing office, and she turned around and hugged me for a really long time. That was the last time I saw her.”

    Testimony is scheduled to continue Friday in state District Judge Mollee Westfall’s court.

    It is the first time Tarrant County prosecutors have sought the death penalty since 2012, when Steve Lawayane Nelson was sent to Death Row after being convicted in the murder of Arlington minister Clint Dobson.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05...tory.html?rh=1


    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #6
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    Ex-wife testifies about abuse years before Ricks killed Bedford woman

    By Mitch Mitchell
    The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    FORT WORTH — Cedric Ricks’ ex-wife testified Monday that he abused her years before he stabbed his estranged girlfriend and her 8-year-old son to death.

    Ricks, 39, was convicted Wednesday of capital murder in the May 1, 2013, killings of Roxann Sanchez, 30 and her son, Anthony Figueroa, 8, in Bedford.

    Ricks is also accused of stabbing Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, and leaving him near death on the dining room floor near the bodies of his brother and mother. Marcus survived and testified against Ricks last week.

    Teshana Singleton testified Monday that she married Ricks in 1999 and that he tried to kill her several times before they divorced in 2004. Singleton testified that the last time Ricks attacked her she and her two children were across the street from the police station in Country Club, Ill.

    “He choked me until I passed out,” Singleton said. “When I woke up I was in my car. Someone put me into an ambulance.”

    Bystander Terri Jackson, who was walking past the police station at the time, testified Monday that she saw Ricks with his hand around Singleton’s throat and asked a man to get police to help her.

    “He had his left hand around her throat, it looked like he was holding her up with that hand and he was hitting her in the face with his right hand,” Jackson said. “This man got four police officers to come out. He was still hitting her as police tried to separate them. He struggled with the police for a couple of minutes and one officer went to her as she collapsed on the ground.”

    Jackson said one of the officers also tried to attend to two screaming children who were in the back seat of Singleton’s car.

    “Had police not arrived, I think he would have beaten her to death,” Jackson said.

    It was not the first time Ricks had hit Singleton, she testified.

    She told jurors that they met at church when she was 15 and he was 18. She moved out of town and had a daughter with another man, and when she moved back they rekindled their relationship, Singleton said.

    He hit her a year before they married, she testified.

    “He got upset with me because I wanted to end the relationship and he punched me in the jaw,” she said.

    Months after they married in 1999, Ricks hit her again on May 5, 2000, Singleton said.

    “He was drunk and he wanted to talk and I didn’t want to talk,” Singleton said. “He punched me, kicked me and pushed my hand against the wall and he threatened me with a butcher knife he got from the kitchen.”

    Ricks stabbed the floor near her face, Singleton said. She said she called police and Ricks was arrested. They separated but later started living together again and had a son. Two years later, Singleton said, she filed for divorce.

    Ricks assaulted her twice in 2002 and left threatening text and voice messages on her phone, Singleton testified. She said he made threats to the entire family, including saying once that he wished their baby would die.

    Another woman who lived with Ricks, Jennifer Clark, testified last week that she had to pull a shotgun on him to get him to leave her home. She said Ricks threatened to kill her if she called police about his behavior.

    Clark said that after he threatened to kill her, she pulled out her shotgun and said, “I will not be the first to die.”

    Testimony is scheduled to continue Wednesday in state District Judge Mollee Westfall’s court.

    Prosecutors Robert Huseman and Bob Gill are seeking the death penalty for Ricks, who rejected an offer of life without parole this year.

    It is the first time Tarrant County prosecutors have sought the death penalty since 2012, when Steve Lawayne Nelson was sent to Death Row after being convicted of the capital murder of Arlington minister Clint Dobson.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05...#storylink=cpy

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    According to tweet from Ft Worth Star Telegram and its reporter from 30 minutes ago--

    Jury still deliberating in the Cedric Ricks capital murder case. Jury convicted Ricks of fatally stabbing girlfriend and her son, 8, last wk

  8. #8
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    Murder defendant says he rejected plea offer because he wanted to die

    FORT WORTH — A man convicted of killing his estranged girlfriend and her 8-year-old son last year said he rejected a plea offer that would have sent him to prison for life because he wanted to die, and even tried to commit suicide two or three times while awaiting trial.

    Last week, a jury convicted Cedric Allen Ricks of fatally stabbing his estranged girlfriend, Roxann Sanchez, 30, and her 8-year-old son, Anthony Figueroa. Ricks repeatedly stabbed Sanchez’s other son, 12-year-old Marcus Figueroa. Marcus Figueroa barely escaped dying by mimicking the last breaths of his younger brother. Prosecutors Bob Gill and Robert Huseman are seeking the death penalty for Ricks.

    Ricks testified Friday that he needed to face his fate in state District Judge Mollee Westfall’s courtroom and then move forward. Ricks told the jury that he was upset on May 1, 2013, when he stabbed Sanchez and her boys and could not articulate why he committed the murders.

    “I don’t know, I don’t know!” Ricks screamed. “I wish I could bring them back, right now, right now. But I can’t do that. I used to be able to fix things. But I can’t fix this. I can’t fix this. With all the money in the world I can’t fix it. That’s how I grew up. You fix it. But I can’t fix it. And I’m sorry I have to meet everybody like this. I don’t want everyone to look at me like I’m a monster. I tried to kill myself two or three times. But I can’t even do that right.”

    Gill said Ricks killed Sanchez, her 8-year-old son and almost killed her other son to eliminate witnesses. Ricks did not want Sanchez and her sons to testify at a pending assault case that accused him of strangling Sanchez and then repeatedly banging her head against the floor, Gill said.

    “You couldn’t get out of that like you did with the Illinois cases,” Gill said during his cross-examination of Ricks. “You were on the hook for a felony crime in Tarrant County, Texas.”

    Gill summarized testimony about four assault cases in which Ricks was named as the assailant, and then asked Ricks if he believes he overreacted.

    “You have a long history of overreacting,” Gill said.

    Violence and a deteriorating relationship

    Ricks admitted he has anger issues, but said that people have exaggerated the stories about his violent behavior.

    “Once you analyze your situation there are always things you think you could have done differently,” Ricks said. “Everyone has skeletons in their closet. Everyone has a full closet. It’s just that you have mine open. It’s not that it’s overflowing, but it is maxed out.”

    Ricks would not talk specifically about what happened on May 1 when Sanchez and her 8-year-old son died. His testimony would not bring Sanchez and her son back to life, Ricks said. Had Anthony Figeuroa lived, he would have been 10 today, Figueroa’s mother, Diana McGrew, testified.

    “It’s irrelevant what happened that night,” Ricks said. “The jury made a decision to convict me on the facts that were presented. Maybe if I had testified (in the guilt/innocence phase) it would have been different.”

    The jury saw a video taken three days before Sanchez died that showed the family playing together. Isaiah, Ricks’ and Sanchez’s 9-month-old son, smiled and crawled through a tunnel made of wire and paper. Anthony Figueroa played a game of peek-a-boo with the baby at the tunnel’s entrance.

    Ricks, Sanchez and Marcus Figueroa could be heard off-camera cooing and laughing. But Ricks said he knew his relationship with Sanchez was not working.

    Ricks said he pawned some jewelry and received $700 which he planned to use to move out of their apartment in early May. Ricks also mentioned testimony during the trial that Sanchez was planning to move from their apartment in June. The murders occurred May 1.

    In emotional relationships with women, Ricks said he consistently lost his temper and would then lose control.

    “Absolutely I’m sorry about what happened,” Ricks testified. “Who wouldn’t be. I know they will never forgive me, probably. But I ask for their forgiveness. I’ll probably never hear it.”

    http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/05...alty-case.html

  9. #9
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    mitch mitchell @mitchmitchel3

    Convicted murderer Cedric Ricks sentenced to death in killing of estranged girlfriend and her eight-year-old son. Ricks testified he wanted to die.

    Jury deliberated nearly seven hours before sentencing Cedric Ricks to death.

  10. #10
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    Conviction and death sentence affirmed.

    http://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMed...2-a1e933678f8f

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