Justice After 28 Years: The Final Hours of Richard Andrew Knight Jr. Following the Triple Murder of a Florida Mother and Child
A Legacy of Violence
The justice system is often described as slow, but for the families of Odessia Stevens and her four-year-old daughter, Hennessy, the road to closure has spanned a grueling twenty-eight years. In May 2026, the state of Florida finally brought an end to the saga of Richard Andrew Knight Jr., a man whose name became synonymous with one of the most senseless and brutal crimes in the history of Broward County. Knight, a Jamaican immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1998, had lived a life defined by instability and violence long before his descent into the darkness of double homicide.
By the time Knight arrived in Coral Springs to stay with his cousin, Hans Mullins, and his cousin’s girlfriend, Odessia Stevens, his criminal history already included disturbing allegations of sexual and physical assault against minors. Despite his precarious legal status and his lack of employment, he found himself a guest in the couple’s home—a situation that immediately fostered an atmosphere of tension. Odessia, a twenty-four-year-old woman who was six weeks pregnant, felt an intuitive dread whenever Knight was in the apartment. Little did she know, her protective instincts were not just a reaction to his lifestyle, but a warning of the tragedy to come.
The Night That Shattered a Family
The events of June 27, 2000, began with a quiet evening. Hans Mullins was working a shift, leaving Odessia alone with her four-year-old daughter, Hennessy. Richard Knight was also present in the apartment. Around 9:00 p.m., Hans spoke to Odessia on the phone; she expressed her discomfort and her firm intention to tell Knight that he could no longer stay in their home. It was meant to be a simple boundary, a necessary step to restore peace to their small family unit.
Instead, the interaction devolved into a scene of unimaginable horror. When Odessia confronted Knight, he did not walk away. In a sudden, merciless outburst of violence, he produced a knife and lunged at her. What followed was an act of bravery that would eventually bring tears to the eyes of jurors years later: young Hennessy, seeing her mother in peril, threw herself at Knight in a futile, desperate attempt to save her. Knight, showing no mercy, turned his blade upon the child, silencing her cries. As Odessia struggled to defend herself in the kitchen, desperate to protect her unborn child and her daughter, she was ultimately overwhelmed by the man who had been a guest in her home.
The Discovery of a Crime Scene
The silence that followed the struggle was pierced only by the distant sounds of a neighbor, who heard the frantic screams and the chilling silence that ensued. A 911 call placed at 12:21 a.m. set the gears of justice in motion. When Officer Vincent Sachs arrived at the scene, the apartment appeared dark, yet the signs of a struggle were unmistakable. An open window with curtains billowing outward suggested a frantic exit.
Inside, the horror was laid bare: blood-stained knives, a scene of carnage, and the heart-wrenching sight of little Hennessy curled in a fetal position by a closet. Richard Knight, however, did not get far. Officers found him hiding near a thicket of bushes just 100 meters away. His excuse—that he had been “out for a jog”—was dismantled by the fresh, deep scratches on his chest and the undeniable presence of blood on his clothing. He was taken into custody with the evidence of his cruelty still fresh upon him.
The Long Road to Execution
The legal process that followed was exhaustive. Charged on August 15, 2001, Knight’s trial did not commence until 2006, as his defense team navigated the complexities of the capital punishment system. The evidence, however, was insurmountable. From the skin cells found under Odessia’s fingernails—indicating a final, heroic struggle for her life—to the weaponized intent shown by the nature of the stabbings, the jury was convinced of his guilt. By March 2007, the verdict was rendered, and the sentence was finalized: death.
For nearly two decades, Knight lived behind the walls of death row. He filed appeal after appeal, maintaining his innocence and attempting to delay the inevitable. However, as the political and legal landscape in Florida shifted, his execution was eventually scheduled for May 21, 2026. The passage of time did not dull the horror of the crime; if anything, the years of waiting highlighted the finality of the tragedy that had occurred on that humid June night in 2000.
The Final Moments
The final twenty-four hours of Richard Andrew Knight Jr.’s life were marked by a stark, absolute solitude. At forty-seven years old, he began his last day at 5:00 a.m. with a shower and a long period of reflection. He had no visitors, no family to bid him farewell, and no final words of remorse for the lives he had destroyed. When offered a final meal, he declined. When offered the solace of a spiritual advisor, he turned that away as well.
As the sun began to set over the Florida State Prison near Starke, the end of his journey arrived. At 5:30 p.m., he was moved to the execution chamber. At 6:00 p.m., the curtain was drawn, revealing Knight strapped to the gurney. When the warden asked for his final statement, he offered only a brief, cryptic nod to his beliefs: “I want to give thanks to Yahweh, the most high.”
The process was swift. As the lethal injection drugs took effect, Knight closed his eyes and drifted into silence. At 6:13 p.m., a physician entered the room and officially pronounced the death of the man who had stolen the lives of a mother, an unborn child, and a four-year-old girl. After twenty-eight years of waiting, the case of Richard Andrew Knight Jr. was finally closed.
A Reflection on Justice
The execution of Richard Knight serves as a somber reminder of the indelible impact of violent crime. It marks the end of a long, painful chapter for the surviving members of the victims’ families, though no amount of justice can ever truly fill the void left by a mother and child taken in the prime of their lives. For the public, the case remains a stark lesson in the permanence of the choices we make and the long, winding path that justice often takes to find those who have committed the ultimate betrayal of human life.
In the end, Richard Knight left behind nothing but the memory of the lives he extinguished and the weight of the years spent behind bars. His death, while final, stands as a grim footnote to a story that began with a simple desire for a safe home and ended in a tragedy that no one—not even the perpetrator—could ever escape.
