A Florida man who confessed to killing his girlfriend's infant daughter three decades ago was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday evening. Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, received a three-drug injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was sentenced to death in 1997 for the first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse of five-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw in 1996.
Details of the Crime
According to court records, Lukehart was watching Gabrielle in February 1996 while his girlfriend cared for her older daughter, who was ill. The girlfriend reported that Lukehart drove away from their Jacksonville home, and Gabrielle vanished. He later called, claiming the baby had been kidnapped and he was chasing the abductor. Lukehart was found in a neighboring county after crashing his car. The next day, he confessed that Gabrielle died after he dropped and shook her, then panicked and threw her body into a pond. Police recovered the body.
Legal Proceedings
The Florida Supreme Court denied Lukehart's appeals last week. His attorneys argued that kidney medication could interact with lethal injection drugs and that the one-month period between his death warrant and execution violated due process. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal on Monday.
Execution Context
This execution marks Florida's eighth this year, following a record 19 in 2025. Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, surpassing the previous record of eight in 2014. Nationally, 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, with Florida leading due to numerous death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each recorded five executions. Another Florida execution is planned this month for Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, convicted of fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.
Florida executions use a three-drug lethal injection protocol: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.
