WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Thirty-three years after his uncle was murdered, Brian Kunkel is still waiting for what he considers justice.
"There's a whole host of emotions with this," Kunkel said. "There's a tremendous amount of anger, and now as we speak, it kind of starts to build back up again."
WATCH BELOW: 'It's time': Family seeks execution 33 years after loved one murdered
His uncle, Richard Kunkel, was a 32-year-old local florist remembered by his family as outgoing, generous and full of life.
"Richard was a fun-loving guy," Brian Kunkel said. "He had a great spirit. Very friendly. Very outgoing — the type of person that literally would give you the shirt off his back."
In 1993, Richard Kunkel went to Roosters nightclub in West Palm Beach.
Court records show Ronald Knight and two other men went to the gay bar looking for a man to lure away, rob and beat.
"This was all premeditated," Brian Kunkel said. "He knew what he was doing."
Court records show the men befriended Kunkel and convinced him to leave with them. Knight then drove him to a secluded area, where he shot and killed him.
The men robbed Kunkel, stole his car and burglarized his home.
"Richard begged for his life," Brian Kunkel said. "He pleaded not to be shot. He was murdered in cold blood."
Two years later, Knight was charged in another killing.
In May 1995, 22-year-old Brendan Meehan was lured from Heartbreakers, then a gay nightclub on Olive Avenue in West Palm Beach, taken to a secluded area and killed.
Knight was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death in 1998.
"These people had purposes in life, and it's gone," Kunkel said.
A family waiting for an execution
More than three decades after Richard Kunkel's murder, Knight remains on death row.
Now, Kunkel is asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign his death warrant.
"It's been a long and arduous process," he said. "My grandparents are gone. They've passed without closure, and I know, at least in my grandmother's case, she died of really a broken heart."
"This needs to be done. It needs to be finalized," Kunkel added.
His request comes as Florida carries out executions at a pace rarely seen in the state.
Florida executed a record 19 people in 2025. Seventeen people have been executed so far in 2026, with two more executions scheduled.
That pace has drawn concern from death penalty opponents and defense attorneys, who warn increasingly compressed timelines could put additional strain on the appeals process.
"I can't imagine how they're keeping up with it in a way that ensures quality," capital defense attorney Carey Haughwout said.
Death penalty opponents are also questioning how the state determines who is executed and when.
"We don't know how people are being chosen or why," said Grace Hanna with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
But for Kunkel, the debate over whether Florida is moving too quickly stands in stark contrast to his family's experience.
They have been waiting 33 years.
Kunkel says his grandparents died without seeing Knight executed. His family has spent decades without Richard.
"Ron Knight, sitting in a jail, he can see daylight. He eats food, gets medical attention," Kunkel said. "Richard and Brendan, they don't enjoy any of that. They don't see family. They don't enjoy light. They're in the ground, and they're lifeless. It's time. Thirty-three years is a long time."
For Kunkel, the decades have not diminished the memory of the uncle behind the court records and death sentence.
"His smile was electric," he said. "He was a really good man."
Kunkel said a representative from the Florida Attorney General's Office recently helped expedite a clemency hearing for Knight — a step that could clear the way for Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign his death warrant.
Kunkel said he is still waiting to learn the outcome.