Florida man executed for killing a young mom who had frantically called 911 seeking help

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man was executed Tuesday evening for the murder of a young mother who had managed to get her attacker’s cellphone while tied up in his car and frantically dialed 911.

Michael Lee King, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He had been convicted of first-degree murder, sexual battery and kidnapping in the 2008 killing of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee.

The curtain to the execution chamber went up at 6:00 p.m., the scheduled execution time, and King gave a statement about a minute later.

“Since finding Jesus in prison, I have tried to live as His disciple obeying the two great commandments: To love God with all my heart, my mind and all my being, and to love my neighbor — to include everyone — my family, Denise Lee’s family, everyone in the gallery,” and the execution team, he said in nearly inaudible words relayed by the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

He did not apologize or ask for forgiveness.

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A clergy member was in the chamber at the foot of the gurney beside him as the drugs began flowing.

King then began breathing heavily, arms shaking and body twitching. All movement ceased a few minutes later, and the warden shook King and yelled his name, but there was no reaction. A medic was subsequently called in, and King was pronounced dead.

Court records show the victim was outside her North Port home on Jan. 17, 2008, with her two sons — a toddler and an infant — when King drove by, spotted her, and later abducted her while leaving the children home alone.

King took Lee to his home, where he bound and raped her, investigators said. Later that day, King drove to his cousin’s house to borrow a flashlight, shovel and gas can, according to prosecutors. While Lee was bound in King’s car, she managed to get King’s cellphone and call 911, records showed. She can be heard on a recording of the call begging for her life so that she could see her husband and children again.

King eventually drove Lee to a remote area of North Port, where he shot her in the face and buried her, authorities said. A state trooper pulled King over a short time later because his 1994 green Chevrolet Camaro matched the description of another 911 call. A woman had heard screams coming from the vehicle while stopped at a traffic light and called police to report a possible child abduction.

Investigators later recovered Lee’s hair and belongings from King’s home and vehicle, authorities said.

Months after the killing, the Florida Legislature unanimously passed the Denise Amber Lee Act, which provides better training for 911 operators. The Denise Amber Lee Foundation, created by the woman’s husband Nathan Lee, continues to promote training and raise public awareness nationwide.

The foundation said that besides the victim’s 911 call, at least four other 911 calls were made the day of her abduction, including one from her husband and others who saw parts of the crime unfolding — but that communication failures and other issues prevented help from being sent.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court denied appeals filed by King, whose attorneys argued that corrections officials had mismanaged the state’s death penalty protocols and that he was denied due process by not having access to certain records.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected King’s final appeals without comment Monday.

King’s execution was the fourth this year in Florida and the seventh overall in 2026 including two executions in Texas and one in Oklahoma.

Two more Florida executions are scheduled this year. James Aren Duckett, a former police officer convicted of killing an 11-year-old girl, is set to die March 31, and Chadwick Scott Willacy on April 21 for killing a neighbor who found him burglarizing her home during her lunch break from work.

A total of 47 people were executed in the U.S. in 2025 including a record 19 executions last year in Florida.

All Florida executions are carried out via the injection of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.

David Fischer, The Associated Press