Lethal Injection

A Florida man was executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of a young mom who frantically called 911 for help while she was tied up in her attacker's car. Fifty-four-year-old Michael Lee King received a lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison.

Michael Lee King shot his neighbor in the face and burned her alive in 2008, court records say. The case led to the passing of the Denise Amber Lee Act, which provides better training for 911 operators.

Moments before receiving a lethal injection, Billy Kearse asked for forgiveness from the family of Danny Parrish, whose widow said she found peace after a "long, long 35 years.”

Florida executed the condemned killer, Ronald Heath, on Tuesday after he spent nearly four decades on Death Row. He was twice convicted of separate murders 12 years apart, and identified as the suspect in a third murder case that never went to trial.

Ronald Palmer Heath was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Jan. 9 signed a death warrant for Ronald Heath, 64, who would be the first Florida inmate executed in 2026.

Ronald Palmer Heath is scheduled to die by lethal injection Feb. 10. According to court records, Heath and his brother robbed and killed a traveling salesman they met a bar in 1989.

Florida law allows capital punishment with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution, the lowest standard in the nation, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Frank Walls, 58, was convicted in the July 22, 1987, murders of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson, who died of gunshot wounds after Walls broke into their Okaloosa County home, according to court documents.

Mark Geralds became the 18th person put to death in Florida this year, further extending the state's record for total executions in a single year.

Richard Barry Randolph, 63, was sentenced to death for killing his former manager at a Palatka convenience store.

Frank Athen Walls faces a Dec. 18 lethal injection for the murder of a couple during home invasion robbery. Walls would be the 19th person set for execution in Florida in 2025.