Convicted killer executed Tuesday in Florida after U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeals

STARKE, Fla. - More than three decades after he and another escaped prisoner kidnapped a woman outside a Lake City supermarket and murdered her in a rural area, Anthony Wainwright was executed Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison.

Wainwright, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. He was the sixth inmate put to death by lethal injection this year in Florida. Also, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Thomas Gudinas, who is scheduled to be executed June 24 in the 1994 rape and murder of a woman in downtown Orlando.

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Family members and other supporters of Wainwright’s victim, Carmen Gayheart, appeared at a news conference after the execution wearing t-shirts that said, "Justice for Carmen Gayheart."

"I had to be here today to see this through," said Maria David, Gayheart’s sister.

The backstory:

Wainwright and co-defendant Richard Hamilton had escaped from a North Carolina prison days before the murder. Hamilton forced Gayheart, 23, into the Bronco at gunpoint and drove away, with Wainwright following in a Cadillac that the men had stolen in North Carolina, according to court documents. They subsequently ditched the Cadillac and headed north on Interstate 75 before pulling off into a wooded area in Hamilton County, where Gayheart was raped and killed.

The men were tried together with separate juries in Clay County, after juries could not be seated in Hamilton County. Hamilton died in prison.

If Wainwright’s execution is carried out, he would be the sixth inmate put to death by lethal injection this year in Florida. Also, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Thomas Gudinas, who is scheduled to be executed June 24 in the 1994 rape and murder of a woman in downtown Orlando.

Anthony Wainwright mugshot courtesy of the Florida Department of Corrections.

Dig deeper:

In trying to get the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution, Wainwright’s attorneys argued, in part, that exposure to Agent Orange before birth caused long-lasting cognitive and behavioral problems that need to be considered. That issue stemmed from Wainwright being conceived about six months after his father returned from serving in the Vietnam War and being exposed to the herbicide.

A petition filed at the Supreme Court said little research had been done at the time Wainwright received his death sentence about transmission of Agent Orange to children and that, if considered, the issue could be a "mitigating" factor that would prevent the execution.

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"Here, Mr. Wainwright’s circumstances exemplify the appropriateness of a recognition that the ultimate penalty — that reserved for only the most culpable offenders — would be disproportionate, excessive, and cruel as applied to his individual circumstances. … Although Mr. Wainwright did not serve in the Vietnam War and was not even a viable life at that point, he was catastrophically and immutably cognitively damaged from it," the petition said. "Unlike veterans, who make knowing sacrifices for our country in the face of grave risks, Mr. Wainwright had no such choice."

But the Florida Supreme Court had already rejected arguments about Agent Orange exposure, saying such evidence, if allowed, would not result in Wainwright receiving a life sentence instead of a death sentence.

What they're saying:

"First, while Wainwright says he was unaware of the cause of his cognitive and neurobehavioral impairments, his intellectual, behavioral, and psychological issues have been an issue throughout the post-conviction proceedings," the Florida Supreme Court opinion said, referring to earlier appeals after Wainwright was convicted in the murder. "Thus, it is unlikely that one additional cause to explain this set of behaviors would result in a life sentence."

The Source: This story was written with information gathered by the News Service of Florida.

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