Jason Futch
reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On April 27, 1994, 23-year-old Carmen Gabriella Gayheart was forced to contemplate her life before being brutally raped, strangled and murdered by Anthony Floyd Wainwright and his accomplice, Richard Hamilton. For 31 years, Wainwright fought to stay alive within the walls of the Florida Department of Corrections, hoping appeals would commute his death sentence. However, on Tuesday, June 10, his execution was carried out.
Wainwright was convicted and sentenced to death for the April 1994 brutal homicide of Gayheart, a South Florida native who had moved to Fort White with her husband shortly after their marriage. She was enrolled at Lake City Community College and working toward her nursing degree at the time of her murder.
The case, described by retired Circuit Judge Vernon Douglas as being “extremely wicked, evil and vile,” began on April 24, 1994, when Wainwright and Hamilton escaped from a North Carolina prison. Following their escape, they burglarized a home, stealing weapons and a Cadillac before heading south towards Florida. When they arrived in Lake City, the Cadillac began to overheat, prompting the two men to search for another car to steal. While in Lake City, they saw Gayheart leaving the S&S Food Store on State Route 100 in her Ford Bronco, heading to the Winn-Dixie supermarket.
While loading her groceries, Hamilton approached her with a weapon, forced her into the Ford Bronco, and drove off. Wainwright followed them in the Cadillac before abandoning the vehicle to ride with them into Hamilton County.
According to the 1995 sentencing document, Gayheart was left to ponder her fate for approximately an hour and a half before they drove onto an isolated dirt road off State Route 6, where she was assaulted, raped and strangled. Afterward, Gayheart was shot in the back of the head twice; Wainwright and Hamilton left her body and fled towards Mississippi.
A day later, Wainwright and Hamilton engaged in a gunfight with a Mississippi Highway Patrol Officer near Brookhaven, Miss., with the officer wounding both men in the battle. Columbia County Sheriff’s Office investigators flew to Brookhaven to pick up Hamilton, who drew a map for the investigators but could not identify where exactly they had left Gayheart’s body. A Hamilton County 911 dispatcher viewing the hand-drawn map was able to determine the area was located near State Route 6 in Hamilton County, leading sheriff’s deputies to the discovery of Gayheart’s body.
Following Wainwright and Hamilton’s extradition to face charges of first-degree murder, their trial was moved to Clay County, where they caused regular disruptions in the courtroom. At one point during the trial, both men had to be subdued during an escape attempt and were forced to wear electric shock belts to keep them from disrupting the court further. Following testimony from witnesses and experts, both men were found guilty by two separate juries and sentenced to death. Before the sentence could be carried out, Hamilton died of natural causes in January of 2023 at Union Correctional Institute.
Wainwright attempted to make last-ditch appeals to the Third Circuit Court, the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. His lawyers, Baya Harrison and Terri L. Backhus of Backhus & Izakowitz, P.A., argued that Wainwright had suffered from mental health issues as a result of Agent Orange exposure from his father, who had allegedly returned home from the Vietnam War months before he was born. In all three attempts, Wainwright was denied a reprieve, with the most recent denial coming from the U.S. Supreme Court the day before his execution. No reason was provided for the denial.
In his final statement, Wainwright blasted Harrison for poor legal representation, saying, “I hope nobody forgets how terrible of an attorney he has been to all of us guys on the row and how terrible he represented me for so many years.” Riverbend News reached out to Harrison for comment, but he declined to offer one. Instead, Steven Alex, a paralegal assistant to Harrison, responded to the “despicable accusations” lodged against him, stating Harrison continues to take on the difficult cases no other defense attorney wants.
“Mr. Wainwright's many appeals were unsuccessful, so I suppose his bitterness is understandable,” Alex said. “Anyone reading (Anthony Wainwright’s) remarks should keep that in mind. A defense attorney is a bit like an offensive lineman in football. You only hear his name when a penalty flag is thrown, and the rest of the time his work in the trenches goes largely unnoticed.” Alex further stated Harrison had recently worked toward commuting the sentence of death row inmate Jason Looney, who was convicted of murder in Wakulla County and was originally sentenced to death.
Wainwright was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. at Florida State Prison’s death chamber in Raiford, Fla., just 40 minutes from where Gayheart was abducted in Lake City. The majority of his last words were not audible, but what could be made out was, “God, I give you my soul.”
Following the execution, Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, Wainwright’s spiritual advisor, released an extended statement from Wainwright, saying he hoped his death would bring peace to the family of Gayheart. “To the Gayheart family: I hope my death brings peace and healing,” the statement read. “To my friends and family: forgive everything that has happened to me.”
Among those present for Wainwright’s execution were Gayheart’s family, Columbia County Sheriff Wallace Kitchings and Hamilton County Sheriff Brian Creech.
During his last moments, Wainwright was accompanied by Rev. Hood in the execution room. Hood is an opponent of the death penalty and was vocal against Wainwright’s execution, calling him “a friend.” According to an official with the Florida Department of Corrections, this was the first time since executions resumed in 1976 that a spiritual advisor was allowed in the execution chamber.
According to Ted Veerman, Communications Director for the Florida Department of Corrections, Wainwright’s day leading up to the execution consisted of waking up at 3:30 a.m. and meeting with his fiance and Rev. Hood. Wainwright declined a final meal.
Following the execution, Gayheart’s family, including her sister, Maria Tortora David, Gayheart’s husband Ricky, and son, Chad, joined Veerman during the post-execution press conference. Gale Gayheart, Carmen’s mother-in-law, said she was saddened the execution took 31 years. “We wish that our loved ones who are no longer with us would have had the same opportunity for closure as well,” she said. “Wainwright had no regard for the effect it would have on her family.” She also added that her son, Ricky, felt Wainwright should have received the electric chair versus a lethal injection, as he felt he was “getting off easy.”
Gayheart’s sister spoke next. “After 31 years, we are finally closing the book on the legal chapter of what happened to Carmen Gayheart,” David said. “I look forward to receiving the paperwork coming to the house saying that he has been executed so I can put it in the book so I can close it so I won’t ever have to think about Anthony Wainwright again.” She also talked about her sister, who was a devoted mother of two, and how the actions Wainwright took led them to the execution. When asked what her thoughts were while watching the execution, David said she kept thinking of what Wainwright did to her sister. Now, she is focusing on healing and moving on from the case.
Prior to the execution, those on both sides of the moral argument of the death penalty gathered outside Florida State Prison to voice their opinions, most involved with the organization Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Hood joined fellow death penalty abolitionists to speak out against the execution. “It’s disturbing to me because I think the Anthony I knew was a person who had grown and was not the same person when these crimes were committed,” Hood said following Wainwright’s death. Hood remained close with Wainwright for the last three years, meeting him at Union Correctional Institute, where he was housed until his death warrant was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in May.
While on death row, Wainwright allegedly told Hood and others he was innocent of the murder. Although he claimed he was present during the murder, he was adamant he did not participate in it. However, multiple pieces of evidence, including DNA found on the seat in the back of the Ford Bronco, showed Wainwright actively participated in the sexual assault. Multiple inmates also testified Wainwright had bragged to them about killing Gayheart in graphic detail.
While there were those against the death penalty in protest outside Florida State Prison, those who were for the execution of Wainwright also gathered outside, waiting for the final word from prison officials. The crowd wore “Justice for Carmen Gayheart” shirts and held similar signs. After the execution was carried out, those gathered in support of the family embraced each other.
Wainwright’s execution marked the sixth time in 2025 the death penalty was implemented in the state and the 14th execution under Governor DeSantis, who is on track to set a single-year record on state executions since Governors Bob Graham and Rick Scott signed eight death warrants in 1984 and 2014, respectively. The next scheduled execution is set for Tuesday, June 24, as Thomas Lee Gudinas is expected to be put to death for the 1994 first-degree murder of Michelle McGrath in Orlando.