Florida | Gov. DeSantis signs death warrant for Andrew Lukehart

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for Andrew Richard Lukehart, 53, who is scheduled to be executed for the 1996 murder of his girlfriend’s 5-month-old daughter, Gabrielle Hanshaw.

The warrant schedules Lukehart’s execution by lethal injection to occur between noon, June 2, and noon, June 9. The procedure will take place at Florida State Prison in Starke.

Lukehart was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in 1997. According to trial testimony and court records, the infant died in February 1996 after Lukehart, who was changing her diaper, became frustrated when she would not lie flat. Lukehart testified at his trial that he “forcefully and repeatedly” pushed the infant’s head and neck to the floor.

Following the death, investigators said Lukehart placed the girl’s body in a nearby pond before driving away in his girlfriend’s vehicle. He initially reported to police that the child had been abducted by an unknown individual, but he later recanted that account and led law enforcement to the infant’s body.

A jury recommended the death penalty in a 9-3 vote following his 1997 conviction.

Lukehart’s legal counsel has challenged the sentence through various appeals over the past three decades. Defense attorneys previously argued that the state should have required a unanimous jury recommendation for the death penalty to be imposed.

Florida law was changed in 2023 to allow an 8-4 jury recommendation to suffice for capital sentencing.

The defense also contended during appeals that Lukehart’s use of multiple medications, including an anti-psychotic, during his original trial may have compromised his testimony regarding the events. The Florida Supreme Court ultimately upheld the death sentence.

This execution is the ninth death warrant signed by DeSantis in 2026.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has significantly accelerated executions since 2025, signing death warrants at a record pace.

The state carried out 19 executions in 2025, the most in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

As of early May 2026, DeSantis had signed at least nine death warrants this year as Florida continued to lead the nation in executions.

DeSantis has said the increased pace delivers justice and closure for victims’ families after inmates exhaust their appeals.

Source: DPN, Agencies, AI, Staff, May 4, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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