A Florida man, Andrew Richard Lukehart, was executed on June 2, 2026, after nearly three decades. He pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend’s 5-month-old daughter, Gabrielle Hanshaw, and later hurling her body into a pond. According to reports, he recited a Bible verse before his execution and expressed regret over his actions.

According to the Associated Press, Andrew Richard Lukehart was declared dead at 6:19 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke after being given a three-drug injection. He was sentenced to death in 1997 for first-degree murder and severe child abuse of the infant. According to reports, Jordan Kirkland, the spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, confirmed that Lukehart refused the final meal and nobody visited him before his execution.

However, a spiritual adviser sat at the end of the table to pray for him as he died. The accused was already tied to a table with an IV drip in his arm as the curtain of the execution chamber went up at 6 p.m. When a warden asked him if he had any final remarks, he raised his head and looked at a group sitting at the front row of the viewing area. He apologized for his action, expressing, “I’m sorry.”

He also recited the Bible verse Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” According to scripture, Jesus Christ spoke these words during his crucifixion. Lukehart reportedly lost consciousness shortly after the effect of the lethal drug began. Minutes after the execution process, the warden shook the 55-year-old and uttered his name, but he did not react.

A medical expert was also called to check his life indicators, and he was pronounced dead several minutes later. According to court documents, the case dates back to February 1996 when the 55-year-old was looking after his girlfriend’s daughter while his beloved was caring for her elder daughter, who had not been keeping well. At some point, Lukehart’s girlfriend told that he drove away from their Jacksonville residence, and that she couldn’t find her baby.

The accused called her 30 minutes later and asked her to call the police, claiming that the baby had been abducted and he was following the kidnapper. It was later that evening that Lukehart was discovered in a neighboring county after his car went off the road. During the course of interrogation, he told investigators that the little one died after he allegedly dropped the infant, causing her to strike her head, and then shook her. Lukehart claimed that he was petrified and dropped the infant in a pond.

The investigating officers probed the pond and discovered the child’s body. In late May 2026, his attorneys argued that Lukehart was taking a medication for a kidney disease that could have an adverse reaction to the deadly injection drug.

However, the Florida Supreme Court rejected his appeal. It was also argued that only a month’s gap between the signing of his death warrant and the subsequent execution denied him proper due process, but his final appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 1, 2026.