Baby Killers Final Words Send CHILLS During Execution!

Thirty years after he beat a 5-month-old baby girl to death and threw her body into a pond, Andrew Richard Lukehart’s final words were “I love you” — spoken to his family as the state of Florida ended his life on June 2, 2026.

Story Snapshot

Andrew Richard Lukehart was executed at Florida State Prison at 6:19 p.m. on June 2, 2026, for the 1996 murder of infant Gabrielle Hanshaw.
A jury convicted Lukehart of first-degree murder and recommended death by a 9-to-3 vote, and the judge imposed the sentence.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant, making Lukehart Florida’s eighth execution of 2026.
Lukehart spent nearly three decades on death row before the sentence was carried out.

The Crime That Took Nearly 30 Years to Reach Justice

Gabrielle Hanshaw was five months old in 1996 when Andrew Lukehart, then 23, beat her to death. Lukehart was dating Gabrielle’s mother at the time. After killing the infant, he disposed of her body in a pond near Jacksonville, Florida. The case drew immediate outrage when it broke, and local news covered the arrest, trial, and sentencing with the kind of sustained attention that only the most disturbing crimes attract. ^[1] The jury heard the evidence and did not deliberate long over their verdict.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on the first-degree murder charge and voted 9 to 3 in favor of death. ^[1] The judge agreed and imposed the death sentence. What followed was nearly three decades of appeals, procedural reviews, and the slow grind of capital litigation — the kind of legal machinery that often obscures the human reality of what actually happened to a helpless infant who never had a chance to fight back.

DeSantis Signs the Warrant as Florida Accelerates Its Execution Pace

Governor Ron DeSantis signed Lukehart’s death warrant in 2026, his ninth such signing of the year. ^[6] Florida has moved with notable speed through its death row population in recent years, and Lukehart’s execution came just days after Richard Knight was executed on May 21 for killing a woman and her 4-year-old daughter. ^[8] Florida is not slowing down, and DeSantis has shown no reluctance to use the authority the law gives him. That is, by any reasonable measure, the system working as voters intended it to work.

The Florida court docket confirms the death warrant was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on June 2, 2026. ^[2] Lukehart was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. following a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. His last words, directed at family members witnessing the execution, were reported as “I love you.” He offered no statement of remorse for Gabrielle Hanshaw or her mother.

Three Decades on Death Row Raises the Question Everyone Is Thinking

The uncomfortable arithmetic here is hard to ignore. Gabrielle Hanshaw was murdered in 1996. Her killer was convicted in 1997. He was executed in 2026. That is 29 years between verdict and punishment — nearly six times the length of the victim’s entire existence on earth. The Florida death penalty advocacy group opposing the execution noted the warrant and its timeline without disputing the conviction itself. ^[7] The length of the process is a legitimate frustration for anyone who believes justice delayed is justice denied.

The death sentence of Andrew Richard Lukehart has been carried out in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida. Death was pronounced at 6:19PM local time. The execution occurred without incident.

— Palmetto Americanist (@thepalmettoa1) June 2, 2026

Capital cases in Florida routinely consume decades in post-conviction appeals, federal habeas reviews, and clemency proceedings. That process exists for serious constitutional reasons, and no one should want an innocent person executed. But when the facts are as stark as they are here — a convicted child killer whose guilt was never seriously in doubt — the 29-year gap between sentencing and execution is a policy failure worth naming. The victim’s family carried that weight for three decades. The legal system carried a convicted murderer for the same period at public expense.

What Gabrielle Hanshaw Deserved From the Start

Gabrielle Hanshaw never got to walk, talk, or know her own name. She was five months old, entirely dependent on the adults around her, and one of those adults killed her with his hands and discarded her body like refuse. ^[3] The jury that convicted Andrew Lukehart and the judge who sentenced him made the right call in 1997. ^[4] The state of Florida made the right call in 2026. The only honest criticism of this outcome is that it took far too long, not that it happened at all.