Man Gets 30 Years In Killer Boys Case

A convicted child molester was found guilty of being an accessory to murder for helping two young brothers who bludgeoned their father to death with a baseball bat.

Ricky Chavis, 41, was sentenced to the maximum 30 years in prison Wednesday after he was found guilty of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and evidence tampering.

He received 30 years for the first charge and five years for the tampering, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Chavis, who has been convicted of 17 felonies, helped Alex and Derek King cover up the Nov. 26, 2001, beating death of their father, Terry King, 40, at their home in nearby Cantonment.

At the time, Alex was 12 and Derek was 13.

After the home was set on fire, the boys called Chavis. He picked them up, took them to his Pensacola home, washed their clothes and hid them from police before turning them in the next day.

Chavis stared straight ahead when the verdict was read and showed no emotion. His lawyer, Michael Rollo, argued the sentence was disproportionate to the seven and eight-year sentences the boys received for the killing.

"It's just simply not fair. This is politics, judge. This is a persecution not a prosecution," Rollo said.

The boys and Chavis were tried separately for first-degree murder. Chavis was acquitted, but another jury convicted the brothers of second-degree murder. Those jurors later complained about the prosecution's decision to try the boys and Chavis for the same crime under different theories of what happened.

A judge threw out the boys' convictions and ordered mediation that resulted in both pleading guilty to third-degree murder. Alex is serving seven years and Derek eight at separate juvenile facilities.

Chavis was also convicted last month of falsely imprisoning Alex, now 13, and sentenced to five years in prison.