Over two decades after the murders of Hanessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter Odessia Mullings in their Coral Springs apartment, their convicted killer is scheduled to be executed.
Richard Knight, 47, was found guilty of stabbing the 24-year-old mother and her daughter to death after Stephens told him that he could no longer live with her and her boyfriend, Odessia’s father Hans Mullings.
According to court transcripts and reporting by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the crime devastated Hans Mullings and other family members. Following their emotional testimony, a jury unanimously sentenced Knight to death in 2006.
Knight’s final appeal denied
Knight’s most recent appeal, filed April 24, cited an unidentified fingerprint on one of the knives used in the June 2000 murders, as well as a history of unaddressed head trauma…