Fla. Murder Suspect, 12, Says Molester Befriended Him

A 12-year-old boy, accused with his brother of murdering their father, wrote that a convicted child molester encouraged him to become a homosexual and told him his father mentally abused him, according to court records.

The youth and his 13-year-old brother, charged as adults, face life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder for allegedly beating their father to death with a baseball bat.

Firefighters found the body of Terry Lee King, 40, in his burning home in Cantonment on Nov. 26.

Ricky Marvin Chavis, 40, is charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder. He is accused of hiding the boys from police at his Pensacola house after the killing.

A prosecutor and investigator said at a bond hearing Friday that the boys confessed, claiming they were worried about being spanked for running away and that their father had gotten “physical.”

The investigator’s sworn statement for a search warrant of Chavis’ home adds details, citing a note found at the scene of the killing in which the 12-year-old wrote that his life was cloudy and confused and without goals until Chavis befriended him.

“Rick let me see what I didn’t understand,” the boy wrote, according to the statement. “Life isn’t about having a job. Life isn’t about importance. Fame. My ultimate goal in life now is what his is. It is about sharing your life with someone else. Before I met Rick I was straight but now I am gay.”

The youth said in his confession that his father was mentally abusing him but that he did not know it until Chavis told him, Escambia County sheriff’s investigator John Sanderson wrote in the search warrant affidavit.

The boys face a March 11 trial date. No trial has been scheduled yet for Chavis.