Widow recalls death

MUSCLE SHOALS - As Rita Ricks lay on her bed praying, her hands and feet bound with duct tape, a pillow over her head, she heard her husband begging for his family's safety.

"(Harry) kept pleading; he said, 'Don't hurt my family.' Then I heard them struggle and then the gunshot," Ricks said, wiping tears as she relived the home invasion that resulted in her husband's death.

Early in the morning of Nov. 25, 41-year-old Harry Ricks Sr. was shot and killed as he tried to escape the robbers who had invaded his home, a sacrifice Rita said she believes her husband made to save his family. His wife and daughter were tied up in nearby rooms.

Authorities are still looking for the men who burst into the Rickses' lives and left grief in their wake.

The shooting happened around 1 a.m. at the Ricks home at 1715 Gate Six Road.

Investigators said three men were involved, with robbery the apparent motive. They have not been found, but authorities believe someone knows something about that night. The governor's office is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the shooting. CrimeStoppers is offering an additional $1,000.

After the shooting, Rita Ricks and her son and daughter moved in with her mother. In March, they moved back into the home where she and Harry had lived and raised their family for 11 years.

She spoke about the night her husband died. Harry, Rita and their daughter, Shamequia, were awakened by the noise of someone kicking in their front door. Their son was spending the night at his grandmother's house.

"It was like a boom, like a hard hit," Rita recalled. "I thought the Christmas tree had fallen over."

"I thought the ceiling fan had fallen again," added Shamequia.

Ricks said her husband raised up and started to get out of bed when the men were on them.

"I couldn't understand why they were in my house, my bedroom," Rita said.

Rita said before she realized what was happening, Shamequia was brought into the bedroom. They were tied, and one robber used a pistol to strike Rita's head.

She said they kept asking about money, where it was, and she told them she didn't know what they were talking about.

"I laid there like I was unconscious, and they put a pillow over my head," Rita said. "As I laid there, I was praying to God, 'Let it be over, let it be over soon and don't hurt us.' " When they put the pillow over her head, she feared the worst.

A short time later, she heard Harry struggling with the robbers and then the shot. The robbers apparently left as soon as the fatal shot was fired.

Rita said she was finally able to get her feet free enough to get off the bed, go into the living room and call 911. It wasn't until after she called for help that she found her husband.

"He was lying in the living room; he had fallen across the couch," Rita said, her eyes automatically glancing at that area of the room.

She said the robbers took $6 from Shamequia's purse, two cell phones and a laptop computer.

"(The robbers) came to take material things, but what they (actually) took left an emptiness that will never be filled," Rita said.

The sheriff said the case is still active and very much on the minds of everyone involved in the investigation.

"We've followed up on every lead and there is not a day goes by that we don't discuss this case," he said.

May said investigators have talked to people in the area as well as outside the state, looking for any information that could lead to an arrest.

"We want this solved as much as the family does," May said.

Meanwhile, Rita tries to readjust her family's future without Harry.

"I could have picked up and moved on, but this is our home," she said. "I wasn't going to let (whoever shot Harry) run me out of my home."

Fighting back tears, Rita said she tries not to think about that night, but conceded it isn't always possible.

"There are times when it doesn't seem real, that he's just gone for a while," Rita said. "But I come home, and it's real - very real. And there are times it seems like a dream, that it didn't happen, but it did, and it is real."

Rita and her husband, who were high school sweethearts and had a double wedding with Harry's older brother, would have celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary Thursday.

"He would have asked me what I wanted and then done his best to get it, and we would have probably gone out to eat and maybe take a short trip somewhere," she said.

Instead, she and other family members and friends spent the evening of her anniversary honoring and celebrating Harry's life.

"We had planned to spend the rest of our lives together. I guess God had another plan," Rita said. "This has been a life-changing experience. Having a strong faith in God has brought me this far. And if not for that, I would be a basket case."

During a "Partners in the Struggle" candlelight vigil Thursday, Rita made a plea to the community.

"The ones out there that did this have to be gotten off the streets," Rita said. "They have put my family through a never-ending nightmare. They can't have a conscience.

"We believe there is someone who knows something; we just need them to come forward."

May said any information would be valuable.

"It may be something that seems insignificant, but it could be what we need," the sheriff said.

The sheriff's department can be reached at 383-0741 or Shoals Area CrimeStoppers at 386-8685.

Not only was Harry Ricks a devoted husband, father, good provider and always smiling; Rita said he is their hero.

"I believe (Harry) did what he did to save our lives," Rita said. "If he hadn't done what he did, we could have been hurt. But he let them take his life to save ours."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.