Texas has executed a death row inmate who fatally stabbed his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son in a fit of rage before he turned the knife on her 12-year-old son, who miraculously survived the attack.
Cedric Ricks, 51, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, March 11, for the murder of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her 8-year-old son Anthony. Ricks stabbed them both repeatedly after he got into an argument with Sanchez on May 1, 2013, at their apartment in Bedford, Texas − between Dallas and Fort Worth.
Ricks also attacked Sanchez's 12-year-old son Marcus with just as much fury, stabbing him repeatedly in the back of the head. But the boy was able to survive by pretending to make the same gurgling sound he heard his younger brother make just before Ricks stopped stabbing him, according to court records.
Although he survived the merciless attack, Marcus had witnessed his mother's and brother's murder, and had to recount the horror during Ricks' murder trial. A 9-month-old son shared by Ricks and Sanchez was left unharmed.
On Wednesday, the now-25-year-old Marcus was among seven family members who witnessed Ricks' execution. Marcus, whose scars from the attack were visible on the back of his neck, showed no emotion as Ricks tearfully apologized to him, according to a media witness with the Associated Press.
