A Florida man who confessed to killing his girlfriend's infant daughter and throwing her body in a pond three decades ago was executed Tuesday evening. Andrew Lukehart, 53, was sentenced to death after being convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in 1997 for the death a year earlier of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw, reports the AP. Lukehart was pronounced dead at 6:19pm after receiving a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. When a warden asked Lukehart if he had a final statement, he raised his head to look at a group in the front row of the viewing area and said, "I'm sorry." He then recited the Bible verse Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," which Scripture says Jesus Christ uttered during his crucifixion.
According to court records, Lukehart was watching his girlfriend's baby in February 1996 while his girlfriend was caring for her older daughter, who had been ill. At some point, the girlfriend said Lukehart drove away from their Jacksonville home, and she couldn't find baby Gabrielle. Lukehart called his girlfriend about 30 minutes later and told her to call police because the baby had been kidnapped and he was chasing the kidnapper. Later that evening, Lukehart was found in a neighboring county after driving his car off the road. During questioning the next day, Lukehart told investigators that Gabrielle died after he dropped the baby on her head and then shook her. He told police that he panicked and threw the baby in a pond. Law enforcement officers searched the pond and found the child's body. At the time, Lukehart was on probation for felony child abuse in a separate case, notes Florida Today.
The Florida Supreme Court denied Lukehart's appeals last week. His attorneys had claimed that medication he was taking for kidney disease could have a negative reaction with the lethal injection drugs. They also argued that having only a month between the signing of Lukehart's death warrant and the execution deprived him of his due process. The US Supreme Court denied Lukehart's final appeal on Monday.
This was Florida's eighth execution so far this year, following a record 19 executions in 2025. A total of 47 people were executed in the US in 2025. Florida led the way with a flurry 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 fatally stabbing his wife in 1992.
- This story has been updated with new developments.
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