Florida executed Michael King on Tuesday evening for the brutal 2008 rape and murder of 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee, a married mother of two young sons who was abducted from her North Port home in broad daylight. King, 54, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. The U.S. Supreme Court denied King’s appeal on Monday.
“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,” King said in his final words, which were nearly inaudible according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. King was sentenced to death for first-degree murder, sexual battery and kidnapping for the killing that occurred on Jan. 17, 2008. He did not apologize or ask for forgiveness during his final statement.
Lee was abducted by King while leaving her North Port home, where her children were inside. King had spotted Lee earlier while driving outside the house with her two sons, a toddler and an infant at the time. “As she trimmed her 2-year-old son Noah’s hair on the back porch, she had no way of knowing that a predator was driving through her neighborhood, searching for a victim,” the Denise Amber Foundation states on its website.
King took Lee to his home where he raped her, then drove to a relative’s house to borrow a flashlight, shovel and gas can while Lee was tied up in his vehicle, according to prosecutors. Despite being tied up, Lee managed to get King’s cellphone and call 911 where she begged for her life, saying she wanted to see her children and husband again. The recording captured Lee’s desperate pleas: “I just want to see my family. Please let me go. God help me!”
King eventually shot Lee in the face and buried her body in a shallow grave. He was pulled over a short time later by a state trooper because his green 1994 Chevrolet Camaro matched the description from another 911 call. A caller said she heard screams coming from the vehicle at a traffic light. Lee’s hair and belongings were later found in King’s vehicle and home.
At least four other 911 calls, not including Lee’s call, were made the day of her abduction. One came from her husband Nathan Lee, as well as others who saw parts of the crime unfolding. However, communication failures and other issues prevented help from being sent. A driver who heard Lee screaming and saw her struggling in King’s backseat called 911 and stayed on the line for nine minutes, giving dispatchers real-time updates on Lee’s location, but through mistakes and apparent incompetence, dispatchers never got the information to police who were seconds away.
“The only thing that made him brave that day is that he had a 9 mm gun to my daughter’s head,” said Rick Goff, Lee’s father and a police detective who was a sergeant with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department at the time of the murder. Goff called his daughter a “hero” and King “a coward.” He said Lee showed bravery by planting her wedding ring and many of her hairs in King’s vehicle so investigators could prove she had been in it.
“She took a killer off the street,” Goff said. “She saved a lot of people’s lives by what she did.” As King died, Lee’s widower, oldest son, parents and siblings stood as witnesses, all dressed in pink for her favorite color. Nathan Lee said he was glad the execution was over so his family could focus on moving forward.
Lee’s oldest son Noah, who was 2 when his mother was murdered, said the execution gave him a sense of closure. “I, unfortunately, didn’t get the opportunity to know her and be raised by her,” Noah Lee said. Her younger brother Tyler Lee said the fact that King didn’t apologize or show remorse “really shows the true coward he is.”
The Denise Amber Lee Act, a law passed months after her death, provides better training for 911 operators. The case exposed vulnerabilities in the 911 system nationwide and led to reform within the industry. When Nathan Lee arrived home less than an hour after the kidnapping around 3:20 p.m., he found the house locked with his sons inside, along with Denise Lee’s purse, keys and phone.