{"id":195982,"date":"2026-03-18T06:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T06:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/195982\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T06:39:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T06:39:24","slug":"michael-king-executed-for-murder-of-denise-amber-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/195982\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael King executed for murder of Denise Amber Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

STARKE, Fla. (WWSB<\/a>) – 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.<\/p>\n

The execution took place without incident, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Members of Lee\u2019s family gathered following the execution and addressed reporters. Nathan Lee, Lee\u2019s husband, said the day marked the close of a long chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, it\u2019s over. This chapter\u2019s closed,\u201d Nathan Lee said. \u201cIt took a lot of people to make this day happen, and everything had to go perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Rick Goff, Lee\u2019s father and a 42-year law enforcement veteran, said his daughter played a direct role in securing King\u2019s conviction by hiding hair samples, her ring, and handprints inside King\u2019s vehicle.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Denise Amber Lee murder: Convicted killer Michael King set for execution Tuesday<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDenise put him where he\u2019s at because she outsmarted him,\u201d Goff said. \u201cShe did everything in her power to save her life. But he chose to end it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goff said King delivered a written statement before his death but did not apologize or ask for forgiveness. \u201cIf you can\u2019t say something from your heart, don\u2019t say it,\u201d Goff said.<\/p>\n

Noah, Lee\u2019s oldest son, who was two years old at the time of his mother\u2019s death, also spoke briefly, thanking prosecutors and law enforcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming and I\u2019m just happy to have this closure,\u201d he said. \u201cI unfortunately didn\u2019t get the opportunity to know her and be raised by her.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s protocols with helping prevent a woman\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there\u2019s lives being saved every day because of it,\u201d Goff said.<\/p>\n

The family wore pink to the post-execution press conference, which Goff said was deliberate \u2014 pink was Denise Lee\u2019s favorite color.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s execution was the fourth carried out in Florida in 2026. As of March 16, nearly 250 inmates remain on death row in the state.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 19.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A Florida-based nonprofit said it held vigils outside the prison and across the state during Tuesday\u2019s execution. A representative of the organization said the group opposes every execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to, one, ensure that people know that this is happening and that the state is doing this in their names,\u201d the representative said. \u201cWhen someone is sentenced to death in Florida, the sentencing order says, \u2018we, the people of the state of Florida, sentence you to die.\u2019 So this is something that every Floridian is a party to, whether or not we support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The representative said the group does not seek to defend crimes committed but advocates for an alternative to execution.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WWSB. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STARKE, Fla. (WWSB) – Michael King, 54, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday, becoming the 32nd person put…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194045,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[90940,90938,28,30,90939,29,90937,90941],"class_list":["post-195982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-denise-amber-lee-foundation","tag-denise-amber-lee-murder","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-lethal-injection-2026","tag-florida-news","tag-michael-king-execution","tag-northport-florida-kidnapping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}