one Florida A man who admitted killing his girlfriend’s young daughter and dumping her body in a pond three decades ago was executed Tuesday night.
Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. after being administered three drugs at the Florida State Prison near Stark. He was sentenced to death in 1997 after being found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw a year earlier.
When the curtain went up in the execution chamber at 6 p.m., Lukhardt was strapped to the table and had an IV in his arm. When he died, a priest sat at the foot of the table and prayed for him.
When a warden asked Lukehart if he had any final statements, he looked up at a group of people in the front row of the viewing area and said, “I’m sorry.”
Luckhardt then recited Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do,” which was spoken by Jesus Christ during his crucifixion.
Lukehart lost consciousness almost immediately after he began taking the fatal drug. Minutes after the execution, the warden shook Lukhart and shouted his name, but nothing happened.
A medical staff member was called to check his vital signs and he was pronounced dead minutes later.
Jordan Kirkland, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said at a news conference that Lookhart declined a final meal and received no visitors before his execution, although he did meet with spiritual counselors.
This is Florida’s eighth execution so far this year, after Nineteen people will be executed in 2025. republican governor Ron DeSantis In 2025, more executions were carried out in a single year than any other governor in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014, with eight executions.
According to court records, in February 1996, Lukehart was babysitting his girlfriend’s children while she cared for her sick eldest daughter. The girlfriend said that at some point, Lookhart drove away from the Jacksonville home and she could not find baby Gabriel. About 30 minutes later, Lukehart called his girlfriend and asked her to call the police because the child had been kidnapped and he was hunting the kidnapper.
Lukehart was found later that night in a neighboring county after driving his car off the road. During an inquest the next day, Lookhart told investigators he died after placing the baby on Gabrielle’s head and shaking her. He told police he panicked and threw the baby into the pond. Law enforcement officers searched the pond and discovered the child’s body.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected Lukhart’s appeal last week. His attorneys claimed that the drugs he was taking to treat kidney disease could have adverse reactions with lethal injection drugs. They also argued that there was only one month between the signing of Lukhart’s death warrant and his execution, depriving him of due process.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Lukhart’s final appeal.
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There are total 47 people Executed in the United States in 2025. Florida was the first state to issue a series of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.
Another execution is planned in Florida later this month. Dusty Ray Spencer, 74, was convicted of stabbing his wife to death in 1992.
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According to the Department of Corrections, all executions in Florida are carried out by injection of sedatives, paralytics and cardiac arrest drugs.
