A Florida man who admitted killing his girlfriend’s baby daughter nearly 30 years ago has finally been executed after his last-ditch appeals for clemency were rejected.
Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, was put to death by lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday evening. Prison officials said he was pronounced dead at 6.19pm.
Lukehart had been sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of five-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw and for aggravated child abuse. The child’s death happened in the previous year.
His execution came after both the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court declined to intervene and spare Lukehart. A final appeal was denied on Monday.
According to court records, Lukehart had been looking after Gabrielle in February 1996 while her mother cared for her older daughter, who was unwell.
At some point that day, he left the family’s Jacksonville home with the baby. When Gabrielle’s mother couldn’t find them, concern quickly turned into alarm.
About half an hour later, Lukehart telephoned his girlfriend and told her that the baby had been kidnapped.
He claimed that he was chasing the supposed abductor and urged her to contact police. That account, however, didn’t hold up for long.
Later that evening, Lukehart was discovered in a neighboring county after driving his vehicle off the road.
Investigators questioned him the following day. During that interview, he admitted to officers that Gabrielle had died after he dropped her on her head and then shook her. He said that he panicked afterwards.
Lukehart also admitted disposing of the baby’s body in a pond. Officers searched the water and found Gabrielle’s remains.
The case would eventually lead to a death sentence that remained in place for some three decades. This week, that sentence was finally carried out.
Officials said that Lukehart had declined an offer of a final meal before the execution. He also chose not to receive any visitors.
He did, however, spend time with a spiritual adviser before he was taken into the execution chamber. A priest later sat at the foot of the execution table and prayed for him.
When witnesses were allowed into the chamber shortly after 6pm, Lukehart was already strapped to a table. An intravenous line had been placed in his arm.
Before the procedure began, a warden asked whether he wished to make a final statement. Lukehart raised his head and looked towards a group seated in the viewing area.
His reply was brief. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. He then recited Luke 23:34, a Bible verse that includes the words: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ — which scripture states Jesus said before his crucifixion.
The execution was carried out using the three-drug method that’s used in Florida. The state’s protocol involves a sedative, a paralytic drug and a drug that stops the heart.
Witnesses reported that Lukehart appeared to lose consciousness almost immediately after the drugs began to flow.
Several minutes later, a warden called out his name and shook him but received no response. A medic was then brought in to examine him. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
The execution was Florida’s eighth of 2026. It followed a year in which the state carried out some 19 executions, the highest annual total in The Sunshine State since the death penalty was reinstated back in 1976.
Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw all of those executions in 2025. The previous state record had been eight executions in a single year, set in 2014. This year has already matched that total and we’re not halfway through 2026 yet.
Lukehart’s lawyers had made a final effort to stop the execution. They argued that medication prescribed for kidney disease could interact negatively with the lethal injection drugs.
They also argued that the period between the signing of the death warrant and the scheduled execution was too short. The courts ultimately rejected those claims.
Florida’s use of capital punishment shows no sign of slowing down, either. Another execution is already scheduled later this month. That case involves 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer, who was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.
Across the United States, 47 executions were carried out during 2025. Florida recorded more executions than any other state.
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