Man executed in Texas for brutal murder of girl and child in 2013
Kyiv • UNN
In Huntsville, the death sentence of 51-year-old Cedric Ricks was carried out by injection. The criminal killed a woman and a child, and the verdict was the sixth in the US in 2026.
51-year-old Cedric Ricks, convicted of a thirteen-year-old double murder, was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville State Correctional Facility. This was reported by AP, writes UNN.
Details
According to court documents, the attack occurred in May 2013, when Roxanne's two children from a previous marriage tried to protect their mother from Ricks' aggression. The assailant killed the woman and her youngest son, and also wounded 12-year-old Marcus, who only survived by pretending to be dead. Cedric Ricks himself admitted to the attack during the trial, but tried to justify his actions by uncontrollable anger and self-defense against the children who intervened in the conflict.
Explaining my rage - I was upset. It happens. I don't know. I wish I could bring them back, like, right now. I don't know how it happened.
Legal Battle and Execution Statistics in the US
The condemned's lawyers tried to appeal the verdict until the very end, emphasizing probable racial discrimination during the formation of the jury.
However, the Texas Attorney General's Office proved that the prosecution's actions were racially neutral, and the brutality of the crime required appropriate punishment in the public interest. This execution was the second in Texas since the beginning of 2026 and the sixth in the country, confirming the state's status as a leader in the number of death sentences carried out in the United States.