STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of fatally stabbing of his cousin’s girlfriend and the couple's 4-year-old daughter is set to be executed Thursday evening.
Richard Knight, 47, was scheduled to receive a three-drug injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Knight was sentenced to death after being convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2006 for the deaths of Odessia Stephens and her child, Hanessia Mullings.
This would be Florida’s seventh execution so far this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was eight executions carried out in 2014.
According to court records, Knight had been living in Coral Springs, near Fort Lauderdale, with his cousin, his cousin's girlfriend and their daughter in June 2000. Knight and Stephens frequently argued about Knight living there. One evening while Knight's cousin was at work, Stephens told Knight that he would need to move out the next morning. Knight became angry and stabbed Stephens multiple times and then attacked the 4-year-old girl, officials said.
While being held at the Broward County Jail following his arrest, Knight confessed the killings to another inmate, who testified against Knight during his trial.
The Florida Supreme Court denied Knight's appeals last Friday. It rejected his claim of newly discovered evidence, pointing out that an unidentified fingerprint found on a knife at the murder scene was known about and addressed during Knight's original trial. The court also rejected other claims based on Florida's execution protocols and warrant process.
On Thursday afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.
Knight awoke at 4:40 a.m. Thursday and remained compliant during the day, Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said at an afternoon news conference. Knight declined a last meal and did not meet with any visitors or a spiritual adviser.
A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.
Elsewhere, the planned execution of Tennessee inmate Tony Carruthers was called off Thursday after officials struggled to find a vein for an hour, a lawyer present said. Maria DeLiberato, an attorney for Carruthers, said she saw him “wincing and groaning” while officials tried to find a vein. Carruthers, 57, was sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1994 kidnappings and killings pf three people in Memphis.
Meanwhile, another execution is planned in Florida on June 2. Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, was convicted of fatally beating of his girlfriend's infant daughter in 1996.
All Florida executions are by lethal injection using a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
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