Freddie Lee Hall was born on July 21, 1945. He grew up in the southern United States, specifically in Florida. 

On February 21, 1978, Freddie Lee Hall and Mark Ruffin committed two murders. They raped and murdered Karol Hurst, a 21-year-old woman who was seven months pregnant. After killing her, they also murdered Lonnie Coburn, who was a sheriff's deputy. Lonnie tried to stop them in a convenience store parking lot.

Freddie Lee Hall was sentenced to death. At that time, the court did not have guidelines concerning the intellectual disabilities of inmates. When Hall's case was reviewed later, he presented evidence of his mental condition. The jury suggested the death penalty despite evidence of Hall’s intellectual disability.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld Hall's death sentence. A judge noted that there was proof that Hall had been "mentally retarded his entire life." However, the court questioned how someone with these conditions could plan a robbery and theft.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling in Atkins v. Virginia, stating that individuals with intellectual disabilities cannot be executed. This changed how Hall's case was viewed. Hall's lawyers argued against his death sentence, claiming he was intellectually disabled. He had taken nine IQ tests, with scores ranging from 60 to 80. However, he also received an IQ score of 71, which according to Florida law, did not label him as mentally retarded.

In 2014, Hall's case went to the U.S. Supreme Court in Hall v. Florida. The Court decided that Florida's law concerning the IQ threshold for determining intellectual disability was unconstitutional. This meant that the states had to consider more than just IQ scores when deciding if a person was eligible for execution. The ruling emphasized that a stricter approach could lead to executing those who are actually intellectually disabled.

In September 2016, the Florida Supreme Court ultimately vacated Hall’s death sentence.