Florida Executes Man Convicted of Killing Girlfriend’s Infant Daughter

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Starke: A Florida man who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend's five months old daughter and dumping her body in a pond over 30 years ago was executed by lethal injection. Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, was declared dead on June 2 at Florida State Prison in Starke after exhausting his final appeals.

Lukehart was sentenced to death in 1997 for the 1996 murder of Gabrielle Hanshaw. According to police, he cared for the infant after she died from injuries. He initially claimed that the infant had been kidnapped, but later admitted that he dropped and shook her before panicking and throwing her body into the pond. Authorities later found the child's remains.

Lukehart apologised to witnesses and read a passage from the Bible prior to the execution. Shortly before the procedure, he met with a spiritual advisor and refused his final supper. Officials said that soon after the lethal injection started, he passed away.

The state's usage of the death penalty has sharply increased, and this was Florida's eighth execution of 2026. Lukehart's lawyers filed the last minute appeals, arguing that the timing of the execution warrant and his medical condition raised legal issues, but the courts dismissed these arguments.