The state of Florida executed 54-year-old Michael King at 6:13 p.m. Tuesday for the 2008 kidnapping, rape and murder of Denise Lee, a 21-year-old mother in Sarasota, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His last words reflected his spiritual journey in prison. While incarcerated, he said, he \u201ctried to live as His disciple obeying the Two Great Commandments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt. 22:37-40 If you want true Peace, ask Jesus into your heart,\u201d King\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n
He was the fourth person to be executed in Florida this year, following a record-setting 2025<\/a> in which the state carried out 19 executions.<\/p>\n \u201cFinally it\u2019s over. This chapter is closed,\u201d Nathan Lee, the victim\u2019s husband said in a press briefing following the execution. \u201cI\u2019m glad this day is done, and now we can focus on what we\u2019ve been focusing on for the last 18 years, and that\u2019s moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n The crime<\/p>\n Denise Amber Lee was at home on Jan. 17, 2008, caring for her toddler and infant sons, when King broke in and kidnapped her, court documents<\/a> said.<\/p>\n King took her to his house, where he bound and duct taped her before raping her. He then took her with him in his car to get supplies to dispose of her body.<\/p>\n Lee was able to obtain King\u2019s phone and call 911, according to the court documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOn the 911 recording, Mrs. Lee is heard crying, begging King to free her so that she could see her husband and children again,\u201d the documents said.\u00a0<\/p>\n A woman in the traffic lane beside King heard screams coming from his green Camaro and also called 911, later identifying King and his car in trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, King drove her to a construction site, shot her in the head and buried her before emergency services could save her. Lee\u2019s body was found two days later, according to court documents.<\/p>\n \n Enjoy what you’re reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n Communication failures among dispatchers resulted in no law enforcement being sent to help Lee even after four people called 911. Nathan Lee, her husband, began Denise Amber Lee Foundation<\/a> in her name six months after her death to better train 911 dispatchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe did everything in her power to save her life, but he chose to end it,\u201d Richard Goff, Lee\u2019s father, said in a press briefing following the execution. \u201cHe chose his path, and he took Denise\u2019s path away from her. That\u2019s not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n Officers pulled King over the same night of the murder using the description of the car.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee\u2019s blood, fingerprints, hair and ring were all found in the car. Police also found Lee\u2019s hair stuck to duct tape inside King\u2019s house.\u00a0<\/p>\n The punishment<\/p>\n King was found guilty of first-degree murder, involuntary sexual battery and kidnapping on Aug. 28, 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n The court found four aggravating factors, including the \u201cthe murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel,\u201d according to the court documents.\u00a0<\/p>\n The trial also found several mitigating circumstances, including King\u2019s low IQ.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the jury still unanimously recommended death.<\/p>\n King\u2019s conviction and sentence was reaffirmed after a number of unsuccessful appeals, the last of which were denied March 10.<\/p>\n His last appeals prior to his execution focused on the constitutionality of Florida\u2019s lethal injection protocols<\/a>. The last several inmates executed in Florida in 2026 made similar claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n Day of the execution<\/p>\n Almost 60 people gathered on the lawn across from the state prison Tuesday to protest King\u2019s execution.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among them was John Chick, the director of prison ministry at the Diocese of St. Augustine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just know that there is a better way,\u201d Chick said. \u201cTo think that we make just what was unjust, what was wrong, puts ourself in the place of God, and that\u2019s not who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n