Florida set to carry out fourth execution in 2026

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Florida is preparing to carry out its fourth execution of the year as advocates against the death penalty warn about what they call a record pace of executions in the state.

Fifty-four-year-old Michael King is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 2008 rape and murder of Denise Amber Lee.

King will become the 32nd person to be executed under Governor Ron DeSantis.

Advocates with the Tampa-based nonprofit Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty say the growing number of executions in Florida is concerning.

“In 2025, Florida carried out more executions than any other state,” said Executive Director Grace Hanna. “We carried out about 40 percent of the nation’s executions. I believe the second state carried out five compared to our 19.”

Florida executed 19 inmates in 2025, more than double the state’s previous record of eight executions in both 1984 and 2014.

Hanna also points to concerns about the state’s death penalty history, including wrongful convictions and past execution controversies.

“We have more death row exonerees than any other state in the country,” Hanna said. “We have 30 people who were sentenced to death and later found to be innocent and sent back home.”

Florida law allows death sentences to be recommended by an 8-4 jury vote and is the only state where the governor also has sole authority to sign death warrants and grant clemency.

According to the Florida Department of Corrections as of March 16th, 2026, there are currently 249 inmates on death row in the state.

Advocates with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty say they plan to continue holding vigils and protesting executions across the state.

“Our goal is to make sure people know that this is happening and that the state is doing this in their name,” Hanna said.

King’s execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison.

Source: mysuncoast.com, Ellie David, March 16, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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