Andrew Richard Lukehart was put to death Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison in Starke for the killing of his girlfriend’s infant daughter.
The 53-year-old was scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Lukehart was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1996 first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw. His execution marks the eighth in Florida this year, following 19 executions in 2025.
Court documents show that in February 1996, Lukehart was babysitting Gabrielle in Jacksonville while his girlfriend cared for her other daughter, who was sick. The mother reported that Lukehart drove away from the home and the baby disappeared. Lukehart later called the mother, claiming the infant had been kidnapped and that he was pursuing the abductor. Police eventually found Lukehart in a neighboring county after he crashed his car.
The following day, Lukehart confessed to investigators that Gabrielle died after he dropped and shook her. He told police he panicked and threw her body into a pond, where officers later recovered it.
READ: Suspect Arrested In Hillsborough County For Fatal St. Petersburg Apartment Shooting
The Florida Supreme Court denied Lukehart’s appeals last week. Defense attorneys had argued that Lukehart’s kidney medication could interact negatively with the lethal injection drugs, and that the one-month timeline between the signing of his death warrant and the execution date violated due process. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal on Monday.
The execution continues a sharp increase in the state’s use of capital punishment. Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in 2025 than any other Florida governor in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, breaking the previous record of eight set in 2014. Nationwide, 47 people were executed in 2025, with Florida leading the total. Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each carried out five executions that year.
Florida utilizes a three-drug lethal injection protocol consisting of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug designed to stop the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. Another state execution is scheduled later this month for 74-year-old Dusty Ray Spencer, who was convicted of fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.
READ: Florida Slams The Border Shut On Out-Of-State Dairy Cows Over Bird Flu Fears
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox
