Florida Man Scheduled for Execution Thursday in 2000 Double Murder

A Florida man convicted of fatally stabbing his cousin's girlfriend and the couple's four-year-old daughter is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening. 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 daughter, Hanessia Mullings.

According to court records, Knight had been living in Coral Springs with his cousin, the 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 young 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.

The court 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 claims based on Florida's execution protocols and warrant process.

U.S. Supreme Court. All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. The state recorded 19 executions in 2025, the highest annual total since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.