STARKE, Fla. (WWSB) – Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday, becoming the 32nd person put to death under Gov. Ron DeSantis. King was convicted of killing Denise Amber Lee, a Suncoast woman whose case led to sweeping changes in 911 dispatch training across the country.
The execution took place without incident, according to officials.
Members of Lee’s family gathered following the execution and addressed reporters. Nathan Lee, Lee’s husband, said the day marked the close of a long chapter.
“Finally, it’s over. This chapter’s closed,” Nathan Lee said. “It took a lot of people to make this day happen, and everything had to go perfectly.”
Lee credited the prosecution and law enforcement team for their work over the course of 18 years and said the family would continue advocating for improvements to the 911 system.
Rick Goff, Lee’s father and a 42-year law enforcement veteran, said his daughter played a direct role in securing King’s conviction by hiding hair samples, her ring, and handprints inside King’s vehicle.
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“Denise put him where he’s at because she outsmarted him,” Goff said. “She did everything in her power to save her life. But he chose to end it.”
Goff said King delivered a written statement before his death but did not apologize or ask for forgiveness. “If you can’t say something from your heart, don’t say it,” Goff said.
Noah, Lee’s oldest son, who was two years old at the time of his mother’s death, also spoke briefly, thanking prosecutors and law enforcement.
“It’s been a long time coming and I’m just happy to have this closure,” he said. “I unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to know her and be raised by her.”
Goff said the Denise Amber Lee Act, a Florida law requiring mandatory training for 911 dispatchers, has had a measurable impact beyond the state. He said a dispatch center in Colorado recently credited the act’s protocols with helping prevent a woman’s death.
“I know there’s lives being saved every day because of it,” Goff said.
The family wore pink to the post-execution press conference, which Goff said was deliberate — pink was Denise Lee’s favorite color.
Tuesday’s execution was the fourth carried out in Florida in 2026. As of March 16, nearly 250 inmates remain on death row in the state.
In 2025, Florida carried out more executions than any other state, accounting for 40% of all U.S. executions that year. The state with the second-highest total carried out five executions, compared to Florida’s 19.
Florida law permits death sentences on an 8-4 jury recommendation and allows capital punishment for non-homicide offenses. The state also has more death row exonerees than any other state in the country.
A Florida-based nonprofit said it held vigils outside the prison and across the state during Tuesday’s execution. A representative of the organization said the group opposes every execution.
“Our goal is to, one, ensure that people know that this is happening and that the state is doing this in their names,” the representative said. “When someone is sentenced to death in Florida, the sentencing order says, ‘we, the people of the state of Florida, sentence you to die.’ So this is something that every Floridian is a party to, whether or not we support it.”
The representative said the group does not seek to defend crimes committed but advocates for an alternative to execution.
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