Attorneys for Michael King have filed an appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, seeking to halt his execution scheduled for March 17, 2026, at 6:00 PM. King, now 53, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2008 kidnapping, sexual battery, and murder of Denise Amber Lee in Sarasota County.
The 63-page initial brief filed Monday by the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel argues that the state’s current execution surge has led to “maladministration” of lethal injection protocols.
The defense is requesting an immediate stay of execution and an evidentiary hearing, claiming that newly discovered evidence of King’s “humanity” and spiritual redemption makes his death sentence a violation of constitutional protections.
The Case and the Denise Amber Lee Act
The execution warrant details the events of January 17, 2008, when King, then a plumber, abducted 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee from her home. Lee, a mother of two and the daughter of a Charlotte County Sheriff’s sergeant, was taken to King’s residence, where she was raped.
An hour later, King placed her in the backseat of his car and drove to a relative’s home to borrow a shovel, a flashlight, and a gas can.
During the transit, Lee managed to use King’s cell phone to call 911. On the recording, the warrant states, “Ms. Lee is heard crying and begging to be saved so that she could see her husband and children again.”
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Despite Lee’s call and at least four other 911 reports—including a witness who followed King’s vehicle and provided a detailed location—dispatch failures resulted in no officers being sent to intercept the car. King eventually drove Lee to a remote area, shot her in the face, and buried her.
The tragedy led to the 2010 passage of the “Denise Amber Lee Act.” Signed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, the law overhauled Florida’s emergency response by requiring the Department of Health to establish strict certification criteria for 911 dispatchers, including a mandatory 208-hour training program.
Claims of “Protocol Deviations”
The crux of the current legal challenge rests on the Fourteenth Amendment, specifically regarding equal protection and due process. King’s attorneys, Ali A. Shakoor and Debra R. Bell, allege that recent Florida executions in 2025 showed significant deviations from the state’s established three-drug lethal injection protocol.
Citing records from other capital cases, the defense claims that inmates executed last June received lower-than-mandated dosages of Rocuronium bromide and Potassium acetate.
“These logs show [previous inmates] did not receive the proscribed amounts of the drugs mandated by FDOC’s procedures,” the brief states.
The defense argues that King is being treated differently than “similarly situated” litigants and is demanding access to unredacted Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) logs to prove the state is not following its own rules.
READ: Florida Gov. DeSantis Signs Death Warrant For Former Officer In Brutal 1987 Child Murder Case
The “Man of Faith” Argument
In a departure from standard procedural appeals, the brief devotes significant space to King’s character development during his 17 years on death row. Labeled as Argument II, the defense presents “newly discovered evidence” of King’s religious conversion to Catholicism.
The filing includes statements from Deacon Lowell “Corky” Hecht, King’s spiritual advisor, who describes King as a “model inmate” and a “devout Catholic” who regularly receives the Eucharist. The brief also highlights King’s international support system, specifically citing regular correspondence with friends in the United Kingdom.
Case History and State Response
King was originally sentenced in 2009 after a jury unanimously recommended the death penalty.
While the trial court acknowledged King’s childhood head injury from a 1978 sledding accident and a “borderline” IQ as mitigating factors, it gave “great weight” to the aggravating circumstances of the crime, including that it was “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.”
The State of Florida has consistently maintained that the lethal injection protocol is constitutional and that King’s claims are “procedurally barred” or “meritless.”
Governor Ron DeSantis signed King’s death warrant on February 13, 2026.
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