Askari Abdullah Muhammad, Formerly Thomas Knight, Executed by State of Florida
A Florida inmate was executed Tuesday night for killing a prison guard with a spoon while on death row for kidnapping and killing a Miami couple in 1974. Askari Abdullah Muhammad, also known as Thomas Knight, was given a lethal injection and pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. by Florida State Prison.
Muhammad, 62, was originally sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing Sydney and Lilian Gans of Miami in 1974. While in prison, though, he killed Richard Burke, a corrections officer, with a sharpened spoon. Tuesday night's execution was specifically for the death of Burke, whose daughter witnessed the execution.
"This is where my dad took his last breath," Carolyn Burke Thompson told the press. "The system has finally worked. I am at peace knowing I don't have to wait any longer. I miss my dad a lot."
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Burke escorted Muhammad to a prison shower, where he was stabbed to death with a sharpened spoon. Muhammad was allegedly upset at being told that he could not see a visitor until he shaved his full beard.
Muhammad's execution was repeatedly put on hold due to appeals, including a 1987 federal appeals court overturning the 1974 death sentence because he had not been allowed to put witnesses on the stand to testify on his behalf. The United States Supreme Court refused to hear final appeals and the execution was carried out.
The prisoner ate a last meal of sweet potato pie, coconut cake, banana nut bread, vanilla ice cream, strawberry and butter pecan ice cream and Fritos corn chips, along with a bottle of Sprite, according to reports. He visited his four sisters on Monday and on Tuesday spent time with a friend. He refused to make any final statement before being executed.
Muhammad converted to Islam in prison, changing his name from Thomas Knight. During a 1996 court appearance, he cursed at the judge and screamed "Allahu Akbar," which means "God is great" in Arabic.
