FLORIDA – For the family of a woman raped and killed in 1994, her case officially closed after her murderer was executed in Florida on Tuesday.
Anthony Wainwright, 54, was executed at Florida State Prison for the 1994 kidnapping, rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a 23-year-old nursing student and mother of two.
Wainwright had spent more than three decades on death row following his conviction for Gayheart’s murder. The victim’s sister, Maria David, was among those who witnessed the execution.
“This coward killed Carmen, who was a young wife, a mother of two children, and a nursing student. She was abducted, raped and murdered,” said Gale Gayheart, the victim’s mother-in-law.
Prison officials pronounced Wainwright dead at 6:22 p.m. Witnesses reported his final statement was inaudible. The execution proceeded without complications, according to state prison officials.
The case dates back to 1994 when Wainwright and Richard Hamilton escaped from a North Carolina prison. After breaking into a home and stealing firearms, they stole a car and traveled to Lake City, Florida, where they abducted Gayheart. The men were later captured in Mississippi following a shootout with police.
Watch the family’s remarks below:
“After 31 years, we are finally closing the book on the legal chapter of what happened to Carmen,” David said. “I look forward to the paperwork mailed to my house saying he’s been executed to put it in the book and close the book, so I don’t ever have to think about Anthony Wainwright ever again.”
Hamilton, Wainwright’s co-defendant, died on death row in 2023.
For the Gayheart family, the execution marks the end of decades of court appeals. David described the toll these proceedings took on the family: “Every single time an appeal is filed, it’s ripping the band-aid right off the wound once again. I’m just glad we don’t ever have to have this happen again.”
While Tuesday’s execution closes the legal chapter, David acknowledged she will think about her sister’s murder for the rest of her life.