Florida: Michael King Executed—Despite Severe Brain Damage Suffered as a Child
On Tuesday evening, 54-year-old Michael King was executed by lethal injection in the U.S. state of Florida. He had been sentenced to death for kidnapping, raping, and killing a 21-year-old woman and mother of two sons in January 2008.
The case garnered widespread attention because problems in the 911 emergency call system resulted in help arriving too late. This ultimately led to a comprehensive reform of the emergency call system.
In his final words, King stated: “Since I found Jesus in prison, I have tried to live as his disciple and to follow the two most important commandments: to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength, and to love my neighbor—and that means everyone: my family, the family of my victim, everyone in the viewing gallery, and the execution team.” The victims’ families expressed disappointment that King had not apologized to them.
His lawyers pointed out in vain that Florida had demonstrably violated its own execution protocol by using expired medications, administering a dose that was too low, or using chemicals other than those prescribed.
The organization “Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty” (FADP) emphasizes in its statement that Michael King suffered severe head injuries as a six-year-old child in a sledding accident, which affected the areas of the brain responsible for impulse control and deliberative behavior. These facts were not taken into account during King’s trial.
Furthermore, FADP states: “Michael has changed during his time on death row. As many people with brain injuries find, the predictability and structure of daily prison life were helpful to him. Those who knew and loved Michael described him as sincere, devout, and steadfast in his Catholic faith. This faith helped him organize his life in a way that had never been possible for him after his childhood brain injury. He prayed with others and offered comfort to the other men who were subjected to the same isolation and despair that characterize life on death row.”
Sources:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/03/17/michael-king-florida-execution-denise-amber-lee/89199889007/
https://www.fadp.org/statement-on-the-execution-of-michael-king/