A Tarrant County man convicted of killing his girlfriend and her 8‑year‑old son is set to be executed at the Huntsville Unit on March 11. Cedric Allen Ricks has been on Texas's death row since his 2014 capital murder conviction, as his lawyers continue to file appeals while supporters press state officials for clemency.
The state’s execution calendar lists Ricks for the March 11 slot, with his name and TDCJ number posted on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s scheduled executions page. The publicly available schedule, last updated Feb. 24, confirms the date and notes that his case originated in Tarrant County.
Ricks was convicted in the May 1, 2013, Bedford apartment attack that left 30‑year‑old Roxann Diana Sanchez and her 8‑year‑old son, Anthony Reyes Figueroa, dead and another child seriously injured. Prosecutors said Ricks used a kitchen knife in the stabbings. A Tarrant County jury convicted him and returned a death sentence in 2014, according to reporting from The Dallas Morning News.
On appeal, defense lawyers argued that prosecutors improperly struck Black women from the jury and that jurors briefly saw Ricks in shackles during the punishment phase, claims federal judges declined to revive. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to issue a certificate of appealability on those Batson and shackling issues, finding the record did not show a reversible constitutional error, according to Justia.
Family members and friends are now asking Gov. Greg Abbott to commute Ricks’s sentence to life without parole, according to The Austin Chronicle. Advocacy groups have joined in: the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty is urging supporters, in a recent newsletter, to contact both the governor and the state Board of Pardons and Paroles in a last‑ditch clemency push.
If the execution proceeds, Ricks would be the second person put to death in Texas in 2026. Charles Thompson was executed in late January, the state’s first execution of the year, according to the Texas Tribune. Local outlets first flagged Ricks’ date when the Tarrant County case appeared on the calendar last fall, and interest has grown as the March execution window approaches.
Legal Status and Clemency
Courts have repeatedly turned down Ricks’s state and federal challenges, leaving clemency as his remaining formal path to relief. The Board of Pardons and Paroles reviews commutation requests and makes a recommendation to the governor. Abolition advocates point out that, in Texas, last‑minute commutations in active execution cases are historically rare, a reality that hangs over the final stages of Ricks’s case.
What to Watch
Defense lawyers have filed petitions in federal court and previously sought review at the U.S. Supreme Court; the Court’s docket reflects a certiorari petition filed in 2025. In the days leading up to the scheduled execution, the key developments to watch are any last‑minute motions in federal court, a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, or a decision by the governor. For now, the state’s execution schedule remains the official clock everyone is watching.
