A Florida man convicted of stabbing his cousin's girlfriend and her four-year-old daughter to death is scheduled to be executed on Thursday evening. Richard Knight, 47, will receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, marking the state's seventh execution this year.
Knight was sentenced to death for the murders of Odessia Stephens and Hanessia Mullings in their Coral Springs home in 2000. According to court records, Knight had been living with his cousin, Stephens, and the child when tensions rose over his continued stay. Prosecutors said Stephens told Knight to move out the next morning, sparking a murderous rage in which Knight repeatedly stabbed Stephens before turning on the four-year-old.
After his arrest, Knight allegedly confessed to a fellow inmate in Broward County Jail, who later testified against him at trial. Despite multiple appeals, the Florida Supreme Court rejected his final legal arguments last week, clearing the way for execution. A final appeal remains pending before the US Supreme Court.
Florida has emerged as the nation's execution capital under Governor Ron DeSantis, who oversaw a record 19 executions in 2025, more than any Florida governor since the death penalty resumed in 1976. Another execution is scheduled for June 2, when Andrew Richard Lukehart is to die for the 1996 killing of his girlfriend's infant daughter. All Florida executions use a three-drug lethal injection protocol designed to sedate, paralyse, and stop the heart.
