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HOUSTON — <\/span>A North Texas man faced execution<\/a> on Wednesday for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son nearly 13 years ago.<\/p>\n Cedric Ricks<\/a> was sentenced to death for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in Bedford, a suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was injured during the attack.<\/p>\n Ricks, 51, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection after 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston. <\/p>\n His attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, arguing that prosecutors violated Ricks\u2019 constitutional rights by eliminating potential jurors on the basis of race. Previous appeals by Ricks that alleged ineffective counsel and called for the suppression of evidence in the case have been denied.<\/p>\n In a 1986 ruling known as Batson v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court determined that excluding jurors because of their race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. <\/p>\n \u201cAt trial, Ricks already suspected that the State had singled out minority jurors to exclude them from his jury,\u201d Ricks\u2019 attorneys said in their petition to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Ricks\u2019 lawyers said that notes prosecutors kept during the jury selection process and which were not obtained until 2021 show that prosecutors singled out minority jurors.<\/p>\n The Texas Attorney General\u2019s Office said court records show the prosecution\u2019s decisions in jury selection were \u201crace neutral\u201d and lower courts have already concluded that prosecutors\u2019 actions were not discriminatory.<\/p>\n Ricks \u201cviciously stabbed his girlfriend Roxann and her eight-year-old son Anthony to death,\u201d the attorney general\u2019s office said. \u201cThe public has a strong interest in enforcement of Ricks\u2019 sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied Ricks\u2019 request for a 90-day reprieve or to commute his death sentence.<\/p>\n Prosecutors said Ricks and Sanchez were arguing in their apartment when Sanchez\u2019 two sons from a previous marriage \u2014 Anthony and Marcus Figueroa \u2014 tried to break up the fight.<\/p>\n Ricks grabbed a knife from the kitchen and began to stab Sanchez multiple times, according to court records.<\/p>\n Marcus Figueroa ran to his bedroom closet and tried to call police. After killing Anthony Figuerora, Ricks resumed stabbing Marcus Figueroa, who survived the attack by playing dead. Ricks did not injure his then 9-month-old son, Isaiah, according to court records.<\/p>\n Ricks fled and was later arrested in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n During his trial, Ricks testified that he had anger issues and had been defending himself against the two boys after they had come to their mother\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n \u201cExplaining my rage, I was upset. Things happen. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know. I wish I could bring them back, like, right now,\u201d said Ricks, who also apologized for the killings.<\/p>\n A day before the stabbings, Ricks had appeared in court after having been charged with assaulting Sanchez during a previous incident.<\/p>\n If the execution is carried out, Ricks would be the second person put to death this year in Texas and the sixth person in the country. Texas has historically held more executions than any other state.<\/p>\n Charles \u201cSonny\u201d Burton<\/a>, a 75-year-old inmate in Alabama, had been scheduled to be executed on Thursday. But Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday commuted his death sentence, reducing it to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Burton had been sentenced to death for a fatal shooting during a 1991 robbery even though he didn\u2019t pull the trigger.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow Juan A. Lozano: https:\/\/x.com\/juanlozano70<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n