Richard Knight v. State of Florida

── Richard Knight v. State of Florida ── Court: Supreme Court of Florida Date: May 15, 2026 Category: General Supreme Court of Florida ____________ No. SC2026-0718 ____________ RICHARD KNIGHT, Appellant, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. May 15, 2026 PER CURIAM. Richard Knight is a prisoner under two sentences of death, for whom a death warrant has been signed and an execution date set for May 21, 2026. He appeals the circuit court’s order summarily denying his successive motion for postconviction relief filed under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.851 and requests a stay of execution. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(1), Fla. Const.; see also State v. Fourth Dist. Ct. of App., 697 So. 2d 70, 71 (Fla. 1997) (holding “that in addition to our appellate jurisdiction over sentences of death, we have exclusive jurisdiction to review all types of collateral proceedings in death penalty cases”). As we explain below, we affirm the summary denial of postconviction relief. We also deny Knight’s request for a stay of execution. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Knight was convicted of the first-degree murders of Odessia Stephens and her four-year-old daughter, Hanessia Mullings. See Knight v. State, 76 So. 3d 879, 881 (Fla. 2011). This Court previously set forth the following facts: The evidence presented at trial established that Knight lived in an apartment with his cousin, Hans Mullings, Mullings’ girlfriend, Odessia Stephens, and their daughter, Hanessia Mullings. Mullings and Odessia had asked Knight to move out numerous times. On the night of the murder, June 27, 2000, Mullings was at work. At approximately 9 p.m., Mullings spoke to Odessia, who said she was going to bed, and then Mullings left his office to run errands. Knight was at the apartment with Odessia and Hanessia. Around midnight, an upstairs neighbor heard multiple thumping sounds on the apartment walls and two female voices, one of which was a child crying. The neighbor called 911 at 12:21 a.m. on June 28, 2000. The cries continued after the police arrived. Officer Vincent Sachs was the first to respond. He arrived at 12:29 a.m. and noted that the lights were on in the master bedroom and hall area, and that a second bedroom’s window was slightly ajar. After knocking and receiving no response, he walked around the unit and noticed that the lights had been turned off and that the previously ajar window was now completely open and blinds were hanging out of it. Sachs shined his flashlight -2- through the dining room window. He saw blood in the dining room and master bedroom. Further, he noticed Hanessia curled in the fetal position against the closet door. Once inside, he observed Odessia’s body in the living room. All of the doors were locked and there had been no ransacking of the apartment. Officer Natalie Mocny arrived next and walked around the unit. She also saw the open window and noticed Knight on the other side of some hedges approximately 100 yards from the building. She beckoned him over for questioning. Officer Sachs joined Mocny. According to the officers, Knight had a scratch on his chest, a scrape on his shoulder, and fresh cuts on his hands. Although it was not raining, Knight was visibly wet. Knight was wearing dress clothes and shoes, yet told Mocny that he had been jogging, and that he lived in the apartment, but did not have a key to get inside. There was blood on the shirt he was wearing and on a ten-dollar bill in his possession. The crime scene investigation recovered two wet towels in Knight’s bedroom, a shirt, boxers, and a pair of jean shorts under the sink in the bath