Welcome everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are used to sometimes getting a final sentence, a few final words from inmates as they are about to be executed, but yesterday we got apologies, apologies, apologies, paragraphs truly of one inmates' final words. Fifty one year old Cedric Rix, who was pronounced dead last night just before seven pm, wanted to make his amends before he died by the
lethal injection without everyone. Welcome to this episode. It is Thursday, March twelfth, and we have covered a lot of executions Babe over this past year because there just frankly, have been so many. Each one is unique and each one I feel like there is a takeaway. But this one was especially compelling.
H This is when we wanted to skip over, to be honest with you. We cover a lot of these and some of them have intriguing stories that come up about the person condemned, person's guilt or innocence. There are questions even if it's not about the guilt or innocence. Sometimes robes of question is just about if they got a fair trial, or their mental capacity, or should you
be executing someone this old or this sick? There's usually some kind of humanitarian effort that is a tie to these executions that sometimes make for compelling stories behind the scenes. This is not one where people were rallying support around him because of hey he needs a break, or hey he was coerced, or hey it was something don't know. This was a heinous, heinous, horrible crime. To the point we were almost gonna just bypasses and like this is
a tough one. We'll just say there was an execution and move on. But turns out this is now one of the more compelling moments we have seen in the past year of covering what was an extraordinary year of executions in the US.
Yeah, you never know what to expect. I think that is a lesson too. You think you understand the way something's going to go or how someone's going to react, and then they surprise you. And that is exactly what happened last night. Yes, fifty one year old Cedric Rix. He was executed yesterday for the May twenty thirteen killings and I say killings, but brutal stabbings of his girlfriend and her eight year old son. We're talking about thirty year old Roxanne Sanchez and eight year old Anthony and
Roxanne's other son. And this is of note. He was twelve years old at the time. His name is Marcus. He survived. He was also stabbed. He was stabbed this is unthinkable, twenty five times in the back of his head, and he survived by playing dead. And him surviving helped put Cedric Rix behind bars.
And that young man, that boy was in the room last night as a grown man now, but he was there to watch this man be executed. And he was there and he received don't know if he expected it or not, but he received a direct message from Cedric Gregs last night. Look, this was this was extraordinary. There are two things that if you have no idea of what the crime was about, or the execution or the
legal wranglings that got to this point. Most people wrote they hear an execution, they ask usually two things, maybe three. They might ask how was the person executed? But they'll ask what was the last meal? And what were their last words?
Yeah, and a lot of times, well we usually can well we can always tell you why they're being executed. Sometimes we know their last meals. And most of the time, I would say, at least the ones we've covered, there usually aren't last words. Final words are actually fairly rare. I don't know what the percentage.
Is even when they have them. I don't the percentage percentage would even be lower of how many times that person uses their last words to actually apologize, make amends, ask for forgiveness, that's even a lower percentage. He had something on his heart, his mind, and this was his last chance to say, and he took it.
It's so true, because the truth is most people who are executed that we can recall, and certainly I think this is anecdotal. I don't have the numbers on it. But not only are they not apologizing for what they've been convicted of and what they're about to be executed for a lot of the times they're denying it, they're denying the crime. They go to their death saying wasn't me. So to have the ownership of the crime is one thing, but then to apologize for it is a whole other level.
And this apology, I've never seen one quite like this. He directly aimed it at that now twenty five year old young man who he thought he had killed that evening.
I mean, good on him for doing so. I mean I we haven't heard the reaction yet from the young man, but we have heard from families prior and other executions who do get messages from that condemned person right before they die, and we have heard some of those families report that those were very important words for them to hear.
Yes, and we're going to give you what Rick's final words were. But I wanted to just for those of you who don't know the crime, and just to understand where Marcus, this twenty five year old now sitting watching his mother's former boyfriend about to die, what he lived through, because what he was convicted of is horrific. So we know that Cedric Rix, and he's admitted to this now, began fighting with his girlfriend. He had a history of domestic violence. He had a history of problems not only
with his girlfriends but with their children. So they started fighting, and the boys who were eight and twelve jumped in to try and save their mom, to try and stop
Cedric from he was punching her. That's when he went into the kitchen, got a knife and began to stay Roxane and Anthony and Marcus was able to run to a bedroom closet, but he went to go find him to finish the job, and Marcus even testified in court I cannot even imagine this, saying that he heard the sounds that his eight year old brother made and he imitated them to basically pretend like he was dying, and that he died, and that then and only then did
Cedric let up. He actually took a shower. There was a nine month old son in the home as well. He put him in the crib and then took off to Oklahoma, where police later arrested him. But that's the crime we're talking about.
And that's why we were saying. This was one that we were frankly, we were willing to let go. We will pass over this one. Yes, there's still death penalty opponents who are out there saying no execution should take place, but there was no sympathy necessarily for this man or this crime when you hear about it. So really we said, okay, well we will let this one pass and there will be plenty more. But then turns out, Robes this one turned out to be incredibly compelling. Even hearing that horror,
there is still humanity at the end. It's amazing that that's even possible.
Just hearing you say that gave me shell. So here are the final words that Marcus and six other family members of Roxanne heard last night, right before Cedric Ris was pronounced dead. He said, I want to say that I'm sorry for taking Roxanne and Anthony from y'all. I'm glad to be able to speak to tell y'all that face to face, and to Marcus, I always thought about you, and I am sorry that I took your mom and your brother away. I hate that you had to experience that.
I just can't imagine. But I'm truly sorry for what I did, what I've done, and I wish all peace and joy as much as you can. But I'm sorry. That's all I can say. I hope y'all go in peace. I really do. I'm sorry.
It's the best you could ever hope for. At the end, you could what more could you get? Maybe the family looks at this and wants him to die and consider that finality. I can't imagine those words doing. I don't know. I can't speak for that family, like would they prefer not to have heard that?
I doubt it harm?
Did it do harm in some way? And I don't know how it came across in the room and how he said it, but at least reading them on paper come off a certain way robes and that's sincere, you know.
And we talked about this. There was an AP reporter who was in that execution chamber and he was giving these details. He's the one who told us what these final words were. But he also mentioned that Rick's voice was cracking when he spoke these words, and that there were tears in his eyes.
I mean, what was it? Can you have grace and decency for someone who murdered a child by stap them and murdered that child's mother and attempted to murder a second child? Can you have any grace in your heart? I don't know. You could mourn, and you could have grace ropes for a human life, not for the act. But I mean, this is just death is awful. It is to plan it, and these ceremonies we go through are awful. But maybe we always take something out of it.
And man, I hope it brought something to the family.
I hope it did too. I was thinking about the fact. Look, the family didn't speak and that's why we don't know their reaction. They chose not to speak to reporters. I can understand not really being in a good headspace or in a good emotional space to actually react to it in front of cameras with microphones, after all this family has been through. But I would imagine that hearing that
from him was better than hearing nothing. At least it wasn't as if he was saying it to get out of being executed, or to get off easier, or to get a lighter sentence. He had no motivation other than trying to give that family peace, maybe trying to get into heaven instead of hell if he's a believer. I believe he is a believer. Actually we'll get into that
in just a moment. But I also think it says something about given enough time, certain people might be able to reflect in a way about their actions where they can say they're sorry. If enough time hadn't passed, maybe he wouldn't have been able to do so, But at least he was able to give them that. At the end, when we come back, we're going to talk about Cedric Rix, because he actually had more to say before he died
to his living sons who are still here. They were not there last night, but we're going to read some of what he had to say to them, and certainly talk about what the rest of this year was going to look like after a record setting gear of executions in twenty twenty five. Welcome back everyone to this episode
of Amy and TJ. We are talking about the incredibly unexpected but profound moments we saw last night in Texas, just before fifty one year old Cedric Rix was given a lethal cocktail, a lethal injection where he was pronounced
dead about thirty minutes after the process began. But he gave a very long apology to his victims' family members who were there watching his execution for a horrific murder to murders actually the brutal stabbing deaths of thirty year old rock Sanne Sanchez and her eight year old son Anthony. Her other son who is now twenty five years old, who was also attacked by Cedric, was in that room that night and heard that apology, some of which was
directly aimed at him. Before he actually stepped into that death chamber. He wrote some letters to his sons from death row and they were released. And he has a son from a previous marriage. And then that little nine month old baby that we talked about before the break. Isaiah was his name, and that certainly would be the half brother to Marcus, who was there in the room last night. This is what he had to say to those sons. Sometimes I wake up kicking and screaming for
what I have done to you. I can't say sorry enough for what I've done. My prayer is that you can forgive me. My prayer is that you both will carry on the legacy of who I have become in Christ, and not who I used to be. He talked about grace, he's asking for it.
It's tough who gives it, who has the right to give it? Who is right? We're not well. I guess I was about to say we're not his judge, but actually we are as society, and that's why he's dead right now. Quite frankly, I don't know what you do with people sometimes right who commit the worst of acts. I guess we've been around and been exposed to people and things like this more than most, and been up
close and personal. But we've also witnessed some of the worst in people, and we've seen the best, but we also seen transitions, We've seen people change. I just love the idea ropes. Yes, he's dead now, but I love the idea for us continuing to find value in human beings even after they have taken life or not contributed
even to the rest of society by their actions. But we find a way to recognize how they still can contribute to a loved one, to a niece they're still nursing or being a parent to while they're in jail, to speaking to other prisoners, there's value still in somebody's life. And I don't know, it seems weird. It's sympathy. It's not sympathy for a murderer. This is just being a human being and being decent, and I don't know. Finding moments of grace everywhere.
I think it's such an important way to look at it, because, yes, sometimes the contribution that some of these inmates can make is a cautionary tale to either other family members or other folks who are headed down that same path, and help them turn their lives around. Go in a different direction. You don't want to end up like me. And I also was when I was reading the not only what he said to the family last night before he was executed, but what he asked if his sons, I pray that
you can forgive me. That wasn't something he was asking for himself so he could feel less guilty. I started recognizing for what it was he was asking that for them, because if the family of Roxane, if his own sons, can forgive him, it takes that burden of hatred off of them. When you forgive someone, you release something, You release some of the pain, you release some of the anger. You actually can invite peace in once forgive. And so
I started thinking about it differently. When people say can you forgive me, we think, oh, that's a selfish thing. You just want to get rid of your guilt. But actually it's a gift to the other person. If they can truly forgive the worst possible thing, that that means a life of potential peace following it.
Yes, there will be plenty of people right now, robes are just rolling our eyes. He's a monster, deserves to die. That's the end of story. And then you're okay to feel that way, We understand, but there is it's okay to feel the other way, and it's okay to for us all to sit in the same room with a different opinion about this. And yeah, I'm curious. I like hearing other people's perspective when they are angry and when
they're like, yeah, he should die. I'm listening because I just it's something this ugly, there is some hint of beauty in the end, and when it just comes to human beings, human nature, apologies, grace, forgiveness and moving on.
Yeah, It's kind of what life is all about, isn't it. And Rix was already the second inmate put to death in Texas this year. He was the sixth in the country. We're at March twelfth right now. The next execution is in the state that has become by far the leading state in executions, at least it was last year, a record setting Florida. In five days, Michael King is set to be executed in that state, and we will continue to following the growing number of scheduled executions. They happened
month by month. We don't know the total number yet, that will still be to be determined, but certainly we are seeing governors and specifically the state of Florida.
De Santos is running out of ink. He is signing death wards left and right. They wasn't close last year, by the way they didn't just set a record in the state and number one. They were way nineteen versus who had the most after that five.
Five I believe Texas and South Carolina maybe.
So we got two more of this month in the country. Both of those are in Florida within two weeks of each other, at the seventeenth and the thirty first, I believe I have right, So yes, Florida's we started the year with only I think somewhere around seventeen eighteen on the books planned, and already more have been signed. That number will go up in the country.
It certainly will. And look, we will continue to follow some of these stories that actually make an impression or at least have some lessons in them. I think it's something that we can all look at. This is our criminal justice system, and certainly so many of us have been touched by it in different ways. So we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy roback alongside TJ. Holmes, and we will talk to you soon.