Alex King and Derek King were two young boys aged 13 and 14, respectively, who bludgeoned their father with a baseball bat. The Alex King and Derek King case was very high-profile and has been the subject of speculation and many debates about how the case was conducted. Find out more on the case below.
Who are Alex King and Derek king?
On November 26, 2001, Derek King, accompanied by his brother Alex King, beat their father to death with an aluminium baseball bat. The King brothers then set the family’s home in Cantonment, Florida, on fire, hoping to conceal what they had done.
Their family friend Ricky Chavis was found guilty of accessory to the murder after he hid the boys in his trailer home after they murdered their father and washed the blood from their clothes. Chavis was also found guilty of molesting Alex King but later acquitted. Terry King died when he was 40 years old.
The boys claimed that their father abused them mentally, leading them to commit the murder. They claim their father often stared them down and spanked them.
The Case against Alex King and Derek King
The case involved Alex King and Derek King, who were for the murder of Terry King. Terry was a Pensacola, Florida resident who had been brutally beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat. The King brothers were accused of killing Terry King over his mental abuse towards them.
Both Derek and Alex King had consistently denied murdering their sleeping father, even when they were threatened with lengthy jail terms. Allegedly Terry King was an abusive father towards his sons, Derek and Alex King.
Alex and Derek King are the sons of Terry King. Alex and Derek were 13 and 14 years old, respectively, when they allegedly beat their sleeping father to death with a baseball bat. Alex and Derek King filed were lucky not to have been convicted of first-degree murder because they were juveniles, and the court found that due process was not followed.
According to the 2002 court ruling, Alex King was sentenced to seven years in the Florida correctional system while Derek was sentenced to eight years. Alex was back to court again in 2005 when he was aged 15 because he attempted to escape juvenile prison.
After six years in juvenile prison for his father’s murder, Alex was released on April 9, 2008, when he was 18 years old. After seven years in juvenile prison, Derek was released on March 7, 2009, when he was 20.
The Murder of Terry King
Alex King and Derek King killed Terry King, their 40-year-old father, by bludgeoning him to death with a baseball bat. After the King boys committed the act, they set their family home on fire to try and conceal the crime.
A family friend named Ricky Chavis hid Alex King and Derek King in his trailer home after they committed the murder and even washed their bloody clothes. Chavis was arrested and accused of being an accessory to murder due to this act. He also became a convicted child molester after Alex testified that he and Chavis had a sexual relationship, but Chavis was later acquitted.
After their arrest, Derek and Alex changed their testimony severally. At first, the boys confessed that the murder was their own doing, then later claimed that Chavis convinced them to do it, and finally that Chavis killed Terry, then convinced the boys to take the fall.
The prosecution tried the brothers and Chavis during the trial for the same crime. The court acquitted Chavis, and the King brothers got convicted of second-degree murder on September 2, 2002. Still, the judge reversed the conviction claiming the brothers’ right to due process was not followed correctly.
The defense consisting of Pensacola attorneys Leo Thomas, Sharon Potter, and James Stokes, and prosecutor David Rimmer resolved the case outside the court and avoided a new trial. This was good for Derek and Alex because they were initially incarcerated for first degree murder but were later found guilty of third-degree murder.
Young Murderer Alex King Arrested For Probation Violation
Convicted murderer Alex King of Cantonment was arrested for probation violation one day after he was arrested on traffic offenses. The 21-year-old King was held without bond at the Escambia County Jail. Alex King was on probation for his father’s death until 2012.
The Florida Highway Patrol arrested Alex and charged him with right of way violation, driver’s license restriction violation, and leaving a crash scene violation in Pensacola. He was released afterwards on a $1,000 bond.
The Florida Highway Patrol report stated that Alex was driving a 2003 Dodge Neon north on Lanier Drive one Thursday morning when he drove into the same lane as a 1999 Chevrolet van. The van’s driver was Candace T.O’Conner, a Pensacola resident.
The Florida Highway Patrol report said that they crashed at 12,50 a.m. that day, after which Alex fled the scene on foot. Alex was found shortly afterwards by the Pensacola Police and arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol.
King had a passenger in his vehicle, 20-year old Jonathan Aeppli of Milton, who fortunately enough was not injured. O’Conner and her 16-year old female passenger were also uninjured, but O’Conner’s other 14-year old passenger was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
Where is Ricky Chavis today?
Ricky Chavis, 41, was convicted of accessory to murder for helping Alex King and Derek King, who had beaten their father to death with a baseball bat. Chavis was given a maximum of 30 years in prison after his guilty verdict of accessory to evidence tampering and first-degree murder.
Chavis, who was previously convicted of 17 other felonies, received thirty years for accessory to first-degree murder and five years for evidence tampering, both concurrent sentences. The boys called Chavis after they set the home on fire. He picked them up and took them to his home, where he hid them and washed their clothes.
When his verdict was read, Chavis stared ahead and showed no emotion. Michael Rollo, Chavis’ attorney, stated that the sentence was too harsh compared to The seven and eight-year sentences that the boys were given.
Conclusion
The Alex King and Derek King case received wide media coverage and was written about in newspapers all over the United States. This high-profile case is also a subject of many debates and papers in law schools and other learning institutions. If you would like help with writing an essay on the Alex King and Derek King case, please get in touch with the professionals at galaxygrades.com today to place your order.
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