A Florida killer convicted of brutally stabbing his cousin’s girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter to death is set to be executed Thursday evening.
Richard Knight, 47, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, marking Florida’s seventh execution already this year as the state ramps up its use of the death penalty under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Knight was sentenced to death for the shocking 2000 murders of Odessia Stephens and young Hanessia Mullings inside the family’s Coral Springs home.
According to court records, Knight had been living with his cousin, Stephens and the little girl when tensions exploded over his staying there. Prosecutors said Stephens told Knight he had to move out the next morning — sparking a murderous rage.
Authorities say Knight repeatedly stabbed Stephens before turning on the 4-year-old child in a horrifying attack that stunned the community.
After his arrest, Knight allegedly confessed to the killings to a fellow inmate in Broward County Jail, who later testified against him at trial.
Despite multiple appeals, the Florida Supreme Court rejected Knight’s final legal arguments last week, clearing the way for his execution.
Justices dismissed claims involving an unidentified fingerprint found on a knife at the crime scene, saying the evidence had already been addressed during the original trial.
A final appeal remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Florida has emerged as the nation’s execution capital under DeSantis, who oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025 — more than any Florida governor since the death penalty returned in 1976.
Another execution is already scheduled for June 2, when convicted child killer Andrew Richard Lukehart is set to die for the 1996 beating death of his girlfriend’s infant daughter.
All Florida executions are carried out using a three-drug lethal injection protocol designed to sedate, paralyze and stop the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
