Richard Knight was pronounced dead Thursday at Florida State Prison after a three-drug injection.
STARKE, Fla. — Florida executed Richard Knight on Thursday evening for the 2002 stabbing deaths of Odessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter, Hanessia Mullings, making him the seventh person put to death by the state this year.
Knight, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke, officials said. The execution followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of his final appeal earlier Thursday. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said the lethal injection was completed without complications.
Knight was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in Broward County. Court records said he had been living in Coral Springs with his cousin, Stephens and the child. The records said Knight and Stephens had argued often about his presence in the home. On the night of the killings, Stephens told Knight he would have to move out the next morning. Prosecutors said Knight became angry, stabbed Stephens multiple times and then attacked Hanessia while his cousin was at work.
The execution began at the scheduled 6 p.m. time after the death chamber curtain opened. Knight was strapped to a gurney with his arms extended and an IV line in place. Asked by the warden whether he had a final statement, Knight said, “I want to give thanks to Yahweh, who is the most high.” Witnesses said he closed his eyes and barely moved after the drugs began flowing. A medic entered the room about 10 minutes later and Knight was declared dead.
The case had remained on Florida’s death row docket for more than two decades. Court records said Knight later confessed to another inmate while being held at the Broward County Jail after his arrest. That inmate testified against him at trial. The victims’ family members have described years of grief after the killings, which left relatives without a mother, daughter and child whose lives were cut short inside their Coral Springs home.
Hans Mullings, Stephens’ boyfriend and Hanessia’s father, witnessed the execution and spoke afterward about the loss his family still carries. “The pain never leaves,” Mullings said. “We love them still, and we can’t stop loving them. We miss them a lot.” Stephens’ mother and sisters did not attend but issued a statement saying the execution brought a sense of peace and finality while not filling the empty space left by the killings.
The execution added to a sharp rise in Florida death penalty activity. The state carried out 19 executions in 2025, the highest annual total for Florida since capital punishment resumed in 1976. DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year than any Florida governor in that period. The previous state record was eight executions in 2014.
Florida’s next execution is scheduled for June 2. Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, is set to die for the 1996 killing of his girlfriend’s infant daughter. State officials say Florida executions use a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart.
Author note: Last updated May 22, 2026.