what does it say? alex w. king loves ricky marvin chavis so so much always and forever. larry: in a bizarre and sensational trial that captivated the nation, alex and derek were tried and convicted as adults for second-degree murder and faced 22 years to life in prison. we, the jury, find as follows as to count one of the indictment. guilty of second-degree murder. larry: but the judge threw out the verdict, ordered a mediation, where the two boys pled guilty to a lesser charge of third-degree murder. alex received seven years in juvenile detention. derek was sentenced to eight. rick chavis was acquitted of murder and child molestation and is serving 35 years for evidence tampering and accessory to murder. alex was released in 2008. his brother one year later. and we welcome to larry king
live alex king and his what are you, katherine? his adoptive mother? his what? i m unofficially his adopted mother. he calls me mom. larry: but you came in touch with him through writing a book about this case? that s right, yes. larry: and you ve been out how long now, alex? a little over two years. larry: what s it like outside? it s well, at first, i could say it was a bit confusing. i spent a lot of time trying to figure things out. but i d say it s really nice. with a family like i have. with kathy and her daughters and everything. larry: where were you held? a few different facilities. i was in the pensacola county. i was in a program in okeechobee, ojocc. and ultimately i ended up in brevard correctional institution. larry: both juvenile institutions? well, brevard was a youthful
we, the jury, find, as follows as to count one of the indictment. guilty of second-degree murder, a lesser included offense, without a weapon. larry: jayne weintraub now joins us. she is a criminal defense attorney. she was hired by rosie o donnell to represent alex and help him get a new trial after his conviction. jayne, how did rosie get involved in all of this, and how did she involve you? well, rosie o donnell was watching the case in florida. i guess from wherever she was. and she asked somebody that she saw she was going on the today show and she asked somebody from florida if they knew a female lawyer that was really tough and could get things done. she got my number and she called me up. as a matter of fact, i wasn t even working at the time. my mom had just passed away.
larry: you ever hear from him at all? no. larry: where is he serving time? rayford? he is not in rayford. he s in a correctional institute not very far from tallahassee. larry: he s the real culprit here, right? well, you can argue it both ways. larry: well, he victimized these kids. my belief certainly is that he drove a wedge between these children, that their relationship with their father was not bad enough to have something like this occur. and if he weren t involved, i think terry king would be alive today. larry: what are you doing now, alex? i m actually working at the oil spill, the cleanup. larry: you re working at the oil spill? well, we re doing the oil spill cleanup on the beach. larry: for bp? yes, sir. larry: do they pay you? they do. larry: well, we met someone that bp is paying. no, i m only kidding. do you go to school, too? i took the summer off to work out at the beach. i m just right now just trying
i was a monk, larry, for three weeks in a monastery in thailand. so larry: why? why? i just wanted to take a break and go deep inside and see where my priorities are now for the rest of my life. so it was a moment of letting go of everything, and the hair shaving is just symbolic of that. larry: are you going to stay that way? i think it s more convenient, yes. larry: before i ask, i want to ask alex, do you miss, think about your dad? i miss my dad in my successes. i know that he would be proud of me. presently, i know he s at peace. so larry: do you think about any individual moments you had with him? sometimes. larry: not a lot, though. not a lot. larry: deepak, how did you come to meet alex? we were having a conference