It’s been nearly 25 years since Alex and Derek King confessed to beating their own father before setting their home on fire in 2001.
The brothers, who were 13 and 12 years old, sent shockwaves among the Escambia County community for years to come.
Here’s what we know about the murder and where the King brothers are now.
Who killed Terry King?
The investigation into Terry King’s murder began as a call about a house fire in Cantonment. Firefighters found the home located at the address fully engulfed. Inside, they found King’s bludgeoned body. His two boys were nowhere to be found.
Alex and Derek fled to the home of Ricky Chavis, who allowed them to stay with him after King’s murder. He would eventually take the boys to the ESCO to turn themselves in.
The investigation found that the boys had beaten their father to death with an aluminum baseball bat in his sleep. According to the King brothers, they killed their father because they wanted to run away and were afraid of being punished. They further claimed their father mentally abused them. When asked to describe the abuse, they described being spanked and “intense stares.”
More questions followed after Chavis was pulled into the picture. The 40-year-old man was seen as a friendly neighbor who helped watch the boys while King, a single father, would work or catch a break. Chavis, unbeknownst to King, was also a convicted child sex offender.
The King brothers told investigators that Chavis allowed them to hang out at his home, letting them watch TV and play video games and would even give them alcohol and marijuana.
In statements, Alex claimed that he and Chavis had a sexual relationship. This was corroborated after corrections officers found a “love letter” to the child in Chavis’ cell, and police found where Alex had written about Chavis in his diary, believing that he was in love with him.
Throughout the investigation, the King brothers made various confessions. They first claimed that they killed their father. They then recanted and accused Chavis of the murder. Investigators say Chavis hid the boys in his home after Terry King was killed and washed their clothes.
Chavis was found not guilty of Terry King’s murder, but he was convicted of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and tampering with evidence and received a 30-year sentence.
Although a jury found the brothers guilty of second-degree murder, they later told the Pensacola News Journal they believed Chavis killed Terry King.
The judge threw out their conviction because he believed the boys’ right to due process was violated.
The case was resolved in mediation. The brothers pleaded guilty to third degree murder. Derek was sentenced to eight years in prison and Alex was sentenced to seven years.
How did Derek and Alex King know Ricky Chavis?
PNJ reporter Molly Barrows, who covered the case and eventually wrote a book about it, reported that Chavis had a reputation in the Brentwood neighborhood the Kings lived in. Chavis had a decent-sized piece of property that young people often hung around. They would play video games and work on cars, among other things.
Over the years, several minors had come forward saying that they had sexual relations with Chavis, but King didn’t know that when he began letting his kids hang out at Chavis’s home. King, a single dad who struggled to provide for his family financially, saw the relationship in a positive light.
Not long before they killed their father, the boys ran away and stayed with Chavis. It was then that King became suspicious of Chavis. He prohibited his kids from staying with Chavis and removed him from the list of people authorized to pick them up from school.
What happened to Derek and Alex King?
Alex and Derek served their sentences and were released in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The two lived with friends and family, going back and forth between Pensacola and Jacksonville for a while.
Derek moved to Washington, D.C. and Virginia. He was married and had a child but has since divorced. He was in and out of prison in Virginia on various charges, including assault. As of two years ago, he is back in Pensacola.
Alex died on April 23, 2024, according to his uncle, Greg King. Before his death, he married and reconnected with his mom, who was living in Gulf Breeze. He eventually found labor-type work, but neighbors said he struggled with drug abuse.
Both have attended college at one point, but it’s unclear if they graduated.
What was Terry King like?
Barrows reported that by most accounts, he was quirky and religious but a kind, good-hearted guy with a lot of love but not a lot of money, education or help to provide for his family.
Where is Ricky Chavis now?
Ricky Chavis is serving a 30-year sentence at the Santa Rosa Correctional Institution Annex in Milton after he was convicted of tampering with evidence and hiding the kids after King’s death. He is scheduled to be released in November 2031.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Derek and Alex King beat father and burned house down in 2001. Where are they now?
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson and Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
