A 36-year-old man who is a former resident of Brandon Township has been charged with first degree premeditated murder in the death of a 21-year-old Florida mother.
Michael Lee King, confirmed as a 1990 graduate of Brandon High School, is accused of kidnapping and killing Denise Amber Lee on Jan. 17. Both were residents of North Port, Fla.
According to North Port Police Department reports, at about 3:29 p.m. on Jan. 17, officers responded to Denise Lee’s home on the report of a missing person. The woman’s husband, Nathaniel Lee, said he had arrived home at 3:20 p.m. to find his wife gone and their two children, a 2-year-old and 6-month-old, unattended. Denise Lee’s purse, keys, cell phone and vehicle were still at the residence.
A neighbor said that at 2:30 p.m., she had seen a dark green Camaro with a white male driver in the Lee family’s driveway.
A neighborhood canvass was begun at 3:50 p.m. By 4:18 p.m., a bloodhound was requested, as well as helicopters. At 6:14 p.m., a Sarasota County 9-1-1 operator received a call from a female who was crying and saying, ‘I’m sorry, I just want to see my family, please let me go,? and identified herself as Denise Amber Lee. She continued to cry as the perpetrator asked her where the phone was. The 9-1-1 operator lost contact with the victim, but was able to identify the phone number from which the victim called, which was traced as Michael Lee King’s wireless phone. Police soon confirmed that King was the owner of a dark green Camaro and a ‘be on the lookout? was sent to surrounding agencies.
At 6:23 p.m., the 9-1-1 center received a call from a woman who said her father just called her and told her that his cousin, King, had just stopped by in his Camaro and a woman who was tied up had gotten out of the car. King grabbed her and put her back in, then asked his cousin for a shovel, gas can and flashlight? which was provided to him? before driving off.
At 6:30 p.m., a witness who was traveling soutbound on U.S. Highway 41 was at a traffic light when she said a Camaro pulled up on the left side of her vehicle. The passenger window was down and she made eye contact with the driver. The witness said she then heard screaming and saw the driver keep pushing someone down in between the backseat of the vehicle. She also observed a woman’s hand slapping the left passenger side window hard, as if trying to get out. The witness called 9-1-1 and both vehicles continued southbound as the witness gave each side street they passed on US 41. The witness tried to slow down to allow the Camaro to pass her, but it would not and as they approached the intersection of US 41 and Toledo Blade Boulevard, the Camaro suddenly changed lanes and turned onto the boulevard and was last seen traveling northbound on I-75. She later identified King as the driver and his Camaro as the vehicle.
At 6:59 p.m., officers responded to King’s residence in North Port and upon entry found a roll of duct tape on the kitchen counter and in an empty spare bedroom found a pillow, blanket, and balled up duct tape with strands of long light brown hair on it on the floor.
At 9:16 p.m., a trooper on Toledo Blade Boulevard near I-75 spotted the green Camaro traveling north and made a stop on the vehicle driven by King, who was alone, and wearing jeans described as soaking wet from the waist down and covered in mud. Troopers found a wet shovel in the back seat and an empty gas can in the front passenger seat. A white metal ring with a heart that belonged to Denise Lee was found in the left rear passenger seat.
On Jan. 19, her body was discovered buried in a rural area off of Toledo Blade Boulevard, close to the area where King was found by the trooper. Cause of death was a gunshot wound to her head.
The North Port Police Department has declined to comment on the case at this time.
No further details were available at presstime.