Florida Man Set for Execution for 1996 Murder of Infant Daughter

A Florida man who confessed to killing his girlfriend’s infant daughter three decades ago is scheduled for execution Tuesday evening.

Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, faces a three-drug injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1996 first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw.

This marks Florida’s eighth execution this year, following a record 19 in 2025.

Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions that year than any other Florida governor since the death penalty's 1976 reinstatement, surpassing the previous record of eight in 2014.

Court records detail the events of February 1996: Mr. Lukehart was watching Gabrielle. His girlfriend reported he drove away from their Jacksonville home, and Gabrielle vanished. He later called, claiming the baby was kidnapped and he was chasing the abductor. Mr. Lukehart was found in a neighboring county after crashing his car.

The next day, he confessed Gabrielle died after he dropped and shook her, then panicked and threw her body in a pond, recovered by police.

The Florida Supreme Court denied Mr. Lukehart's appeals last week. His attorneys argued kidney medication could react with lethal injection drugs, and the one-month period between his death warrant and execution violated due process. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal on Monday.

Nationally, 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, with Florida leading through numerous death warrants signed by Governor DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas each recorded five executions.