Rainwater pooled along the pavement outside Florida State Prison as the state executed Richard Knight at 6:13 p.m. Thursday.
Knight had been convicted of the 2002 murders of 24-year-old Odessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter, Hanessia Mullings.
His last words were, “I want to give thanks to Yahweh, who is the most high,” according to witnesses of the execution. Yahweh is a Hebrew name for God used in Judaism and referenced in some Christian faiths.
Knight was the seventh person executed by the state this year. His execution follows a record-breaking 2025, during which Florida executed 19 people.
The crime
According to court records, Knight lived with his cousin, Hans Mullings, in a Coral Springs apartment. The apartment was shared with Mullings’ girlfriend, Stephens, and their daughter, Hanessia.
Leading up to the murder, prosecutors said Stephens and Mullings had repeatedly asked Knight to pay rent or move out.
On the night of June 27, 2000, Stephens and Hanessia remained at home with Knight while Mullings was at work. Around midnight, an upstairs neighbor called 911 to report loud thumping noises and a child crying.
Responding officers later found Stephens and Hanessia dead inside the apartment, each with multiple stab wounds. Knight was located nearby with cuts on his hand and blood on his clothing.
Further investigation identified the blood on Knight’s shorts, boxers and shirt as Stephen’s. His cuts were consistent with being injured while stabbing, investigators said.
The medical examiner reported Stephens suffered more than 20 stab wounds — 14 of which were in her neck. Hanessia also suffered multiple stab wounds and bruises.
More than two decades after the murders, family members gathered outside the prison on Thursday to mourn the loss of Stephens and Hanessia.
At a press conference after the execution, Mullings thanked the Coral Springs Police Department and prosecutors for their work on the case.
“We miss you, Odessia,” he said. “We miss you, Hanessia. Our family will always love you, and we think justice was served today.”
Monica Mullings, Hanessia’s grandmother, also spoke following the execution.
She thanked Gov. Ron DeSantis for Knight’s execution.
“In these hard times when there’s so much protest when justice is done, and for him to be so brave, I commend him,” she said.
The punishment
A jury found Knight guilty on both counts of first-degree murder in April 2006. Three months later, jurors unanimously recommended a death sentence.
Knight appealed his sentence in 2011. The Florida Supreme Court denied his appeal and upheld his conviction and sentence the same year.
Knight made additional appeals in subsequent years, but all were denied.
Earlier this month, both the Florida Supreme Court and Supreme Court of the United States rejected his final appeals.
Day of the execution
Roughly 50 protesters gathered outside Florida State Prison Thursday to protest the death penalty. The crowd included members of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and parishioners from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.
Protesters spread tarps across the wet ground and sat in lawn chairs. Many held signs, and one man carried a portrait of the Virgin Mary. Protesters sheltered beneath umbrellas and plastic ponchos as a storm rolled through.
The Rev. Fred Ruse, a 76-year-old Ormond Beach resident, said he has protested the death penalty since 1996. Ruse compared Hanessia’s death to the deaths of children in Gaza and said that while Knight’s killings were tragic, his execution was undignified.
“His dignity relates to the dignity of all of us; ours relates to his,” he said. “It’s all connected.”
Roughly 25 feet away, Bill Campbell played music by Dolly Parton, The Beatles and other artists to muffle the protesters’ song and prayer.
Campbell, who makes a two-hour drive from Marion County for nearly every execution, said he played the music in an attempt to drown out those protesting the death penalty.
Campbell, the lone counterprotester supporting the punishment, said he was surprised to see how many people were against it.
“They don’t do anything for the victims, but they come here supporting the criminals,” he said.
Amid singing and preaching, Herman Lindsey stood in a blue collared shirt. Lindsey was wrongfully convicted and sent to Florida’s death row in 2006 on robbery and murder charges. He was exonerated three years later.
Lindsey was the 23rd person exonerated from Florida’s death row, which has more than 30 exonerees — the highest number of death row exonerations of any state in the nation.
Lindsey is the executive director of Witness to Innocence, an organization focused on supporting people exonerated from death row.
Lindsey said he got to know Knight while the two were in prison. He described the man as quiet and isolated. Lindsey recalled Knight speaking about growing up in Jamaica and coming to America to find a better life.
Though Lindsey said he feels the work he does makes a difference, it’s still difficult for him to be near the execution.
“You fight and you see things that you know are wrong, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “You’re helpless.”
Contact Julianna Bendeck at jbendeck@alligator.org.
Julianna Bendeck is a first-year journalism student and the Summer 2026 criminal justice reporter. She previously worked as a contributing writer and race and equity reporter at The Alligator. Outside the newsroom, she enjoys reading, surfing the web and playing video games.
