Two young brothers convicted of killing their father with baseball bat

<br>PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) _ A jury convicted 13- and 14-year-old brothers Friday of murdering their sleeping father with a baseball bat in an unusual case in which a man was tried for the same crime under

Friday, September 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) _ A jury convicted 13- and 14-year-old brothers Friday of murdering their sleeping father with a baseball bat in an unusual case in which a man was tried for the same crime under a completely different prosecution theory.

Derek King, 14, bowed his head as the verdict was read while his 13-year-old brother Alex later wiped away tears. Prosecutors said the boys face 22 years to life in prison.

The two were charged with first-degree murder, but jurors convicted them of second-degree murder as well as arson in last fall's slaying.

Convicted child molester Ricky Chavis, 40, was tried earlier for the murder, with prosecutors arguing that he, not the boys, wielded the bat that killed King. The verdict in his trial was sealed pending the outcome of the brothers' trial, but was not immediately announced Friday.

Firefighters found the body of Terry King, 40, on a recliner inside his burning home Nov. 26. The boys confessed to police a day after the slaying, but later recanted and said Chavis was the killer. Both testified against him at his trial.

Prosecutor David Rimmer argued the boys were telling the truth the first time, and that their confessions are filled with the kind of detail only someone who was there would have known.

Defense lawyers said the boys confessed only to protect Chavis and parroted what he had coached them to say. That included such gory details as being able to see their father's brain through a hole in his head and the raspy sound of his last gasps.

``Everyone in this courtroom can repeat those details,'' said James Stokes, Alex's lawyer. ``The boys' stories line up because the boys' stories are rehearsed.''

As they awaited the verdict, the boys sat at different tables with their lawyers. Derek rocked slightly in his chair and stifled yawns, while Alex chatted with his attorney. After the verdict, both sat in silence, with Alex struggling to hold back tears.

The boys changed their stories more than four months after the murder, telling a grand jury that Chavis killed their father while they hid in the trunk of Chavis' car. The grand jury then indicted Chavis.

Prosecutors, however, said Derek swung the bat while Alex urged him on. Rimmer said the boys wanted to escape their controlling father and live with Chavis, who allowed them to play video games, stay up late watching television and smoke marijuana when they went to his house after running away from home 10 days before the killing.

Soft-spoken Alex took the stand to testify that the boys took the blame because they wanted to live with Chavis, and that he had told them they would be exonerated by claiming self-defense because they are juveniles.

The defense also argued that Chavis wanted to keep Terry King from finding out he was having sex with Alex.