After a final court process that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting his last appeals without comment, Florida executed Michael Lee King on Tuesday evening for the 2008 killing of Denise Amber Lee, a North Port mother who had pleaded for help by calling 911 from her attacker’s cellphone while tied up in his car.
King, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke following a three-drug injection, according to the Associated Press. The execution began at 6 p.m. as scheduled, and the statement he delivered was relayed through the governor’s office.
In that nearly inaudible statement, King said he had “found Jesus in prison” and described trying to live as a disciple, citing Christian commandments to love God and his neighbor. He also referenced “Catholic volunteers” who visit the prison and “those on the team to end my life,” and the AP reported that a clergy member was at the foot of the gurney as the drugs began.
As the drugs started flowing, King began breathing heavily and his body twitched, the AP reported. After movement stopped minutes later, the warden shook him and yelled his name, but King did not respond; a medic then pronounced him dead.
Prosecutors have said Lee was outside her North Port home on Jan. 17, 2008, when King drove by, spotted her and later abducted her while her toddler and infant sons were left home alone. Investigators said King took Lee to his home, bound her and raped her, before driving her to a remote area of North Port where authorities said he shot her in the face and buried her.
While Lee was tied up in King’s car, prosecutors said she managed to get his cellphone and call 911, leaving a recorded plea asking for her life and for the chance to see her husband and children again. A state trooper later pulled King over because his 1994 green Chevrolet Camaro matched a description from another 911 caller who reported hearing screams at a traffic light.
Relatives and advocates tied to Lee’s family also pointed to the communications failures highlighted by the case. The Denise Amber Lee Foundation, created by Lee’s husband Nathan Lee, said that besides Lee’s own 911 call, at least four other 911 calls were made that day—including calls from her husband and from people who saw parts of the unfolding crime—but that other issues prevented help from being sent.
Nathan Lee, as well as Richard Goff, Lee’s father, and one of Lee’s sons, witnessed the execution, the AP reported, with family members wearing pink shirts, which were described as Lee’s favorite color. Afterward, Nathan Lee said he was relieved to “close out this chapter” and continue focusing on improvements to the nation’s 911 system, while Goff said King did not even apologize.
The execution was Florida’s fourth of the year, and the AP reported it was the seventh in the United States in 2026, including two executions in Texas and one in Oklahoma. The AP also reported that two more executions in Florida are scheduled for March 31 and April 21, and that 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025, including a record 19 in Florida.
All Florida executions are carried out by injecting a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, the AP reported.