{"id":2333,"date":"2026-06-02T15:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2333"},"modified":"2026-06-02T15:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:05:06","slug":"florida-man-who-killed-his-girlfriends-baby-in-1996-to-be-executed-on-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=2333","title":{"rendered":"Florida man who killed his girlfriend\u2019s baby in 1996 to be executed on Tuesday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Andrew Lukehart is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend’s daughter in 1996. Image is courtesy of the Florida Department of Corrections.\u00a0<\/span> <\/p>

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STARKE, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>Andrew Richard Lukehart is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1996 murder of his girlfriend’s infant daughter. The 53-year-old man confessed to investigators three decades ago that he threw the child into a pond after accidentally dropping and shaking her.\u00a0<\/p>

Florida death penalty execution<\/strong><\/h2>

What we know:<\/p>

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A three-drug injection is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday for Lukehart, who was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in 1997.\u00a0<\/p>

Court records show Lukehart was watching 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw in February 1996 at a Jacksonville home while his girlfriend cared for another sick child.\u00a0<\/p>

Lukehart drove away, called his girlfriend to claim the baby was kidnapped, and was found later that night in a neighboring county after driving his car off the road.\u00a0<\/p>

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The next day, Lukehart told investigators he panicked and threw Gabrielle into a pond after he dropped the baby on her head and shook her. Law enforcement officers later recovered the child’s body from the water.<\/p>

Supreme Court legal appeals<\/strong><\/h2>

What we don’t know:<\/p>

Officials have not yet confirmed how corrections staff would handle potential complications from kidney disease medication Lukehart was taking. His attorneys argued the medication could cause a negative reaction with the lethal injection sedative, paralytic and heart-stopping drugs.<\/p>

Defense lawyers also claimed a one-month window between the death warrant signing and the execution date violated due process, though the Florida Supreme Court denied these appeals last week. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal Monday.\u00a0<\/p>

Single year execution records<\/strong><\/h2>

By the numbers:<\/p>