Photo: Zeferli / iStock / Getty Images
Starke, FL - A Florida man convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a young mother in 1994 was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison.
Anthony Wainwright, 54, was put to death for the murder of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two, who was abducted from a grocery store parking lot in Lake City.
According to authorities, Wainwright and his alleged accomplice, Richard Hamilton, had escaped from a North Carolina correctional facility days earlier and were armed when they encountered Gayheart.
Investigators allege the men forced Gayheart into her car at gunpoint before driving her to a remote location in Hamilton County.
There, they allegedly sexually assaulted her, attempted to strangle her, and ultimately shot her in the back of the head.
Her body was discovered in a wooded area days later.
Wainwright and Hamilton were arrested the following day in Mississippi after a confrontation with police.
Both men were convicted and sentenced to death in 1995.
Hamilton died in prison in January 2023 at the age of 59.
On Tuesday, the execution process began at approximately 6:10 p.m.
Witnesses observed Wainwright blink, take several deep breaths, and then become still.
He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., according to a spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis.
Although Wainwright appeared to make a final statement, it was inaudible from the viewing room.
This marks Florida’s sixth execution of 2025, with at least one more scheduled later this month.