Love Letter Found on Wall of Chavis' Cell
Missive thought to be written to youngest King brother
By Ginny Graybiel
Originally published in The Pensacola News Journal, April 3, 2002
Convicted child molester Ricky Chavis is suspected of scribbling a love letter to child murder suspect Alex King on the wall of a courthouse cell.
Chavis
The 349-word message urges the 12-year-old boy: "Hang in there. It will work out if nothing changes in the testimony. You know who not to trust. They are keeping us apart until this is over."
It concludes: "I L U always and forever. You know who."
Chavis, 40, is accused of harboring Alex and his 13-year-old brother, Derek, who are charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 26 death of their father, Terry King.
He has characterized himself as a friend and mentor to the brothers, but Alex's attorney, James Stokes, has accused him of being the boy's "adult lover."
The message was found March 26 on the wall of an M.C. Blanchard Judicial Building holding cell, where Chavis had been incarcerated six days before. He is jailed under $50,000 bond on charges of accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence.
Escambia County Jail Director Dennis Williams said the King brothers, who are jailed without bond, have not been in the cell so could not have seen the message.
Williams said he cannot definitively say Chavis wrote the letter.
But he said: "The contents of the note would certainly lead one to believe that."
The contents also are similar to a message that Chavis tried to relay to Alex on Jan. 19.
Detention deputies caught him using a small rock to scratch the words "Alex don't trust" into a cement floor in the jail recreation yard.
Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer turned a handwritten copy of the courthouse note over to the King brothers' defense attorneys last Friday, according to the latest discovery documents in the case.
Undo influence
King, a single father, was killed as he slept in his home on Muscogee Road in Cantonment.
In his confession, Alex told investigators he came up with the idea because he feared punishment for running away several days before. Derek confessed to repeatedly smashing his father in the head with an aluminum baseball bat.
After several false stories to investigators, Chavis said the boys called him from a nearby convenience store after their father's death. He picked them up, kept them in his mobile home in Brentwood for nearly two days, then turned them into the Escambia Sheriff's Office.
Chavis was convicted in the early '80s of molesting two teen-age boys. He denied molesting the King boys.
He also denied knowing about the slaying in advance. He accused Terry King, his friend, of mentally abusing the children but said he did not know a death plot against him was in the works.
Alex's lawyer has alleged that Chavis held great sway over the children and may have had far more involvement than he admits.
A note written by Alex and found in his father's home also points to such sway.
The child wrote that his life was "cloudy" before he met Chavis. Since then, "My ultimate goal in life now is what his is. It is about sharing your life with someone else's. Before I met Rick, I was straight, but now I am gay."
Words of warning
The writer of the courthouse note assured Alex, the presumed recipient, of love "always and forever."
"I'm thinking about you day and night," he wrote. "Please be careful. I'm with you and your thoughts."
The note advised Alex not to change his story to investigators. Thus far, the boy has given investigators no indication that Chavis had any involvement in the slaying or molested him.
"Our future depend(s) on the outcome of us in court and what happen(s) to us," the note said.
It suggested that investigators are trying to persuade Alex to "talk and get me 50 years in prison." Chavis actually faces a possible 35 years in prison.
"If a deal has been promised to get you to say yes about certain things that we know about, just remember that be bold and be strong," the note said. "Nothing has changed."
It continued: "They will lie to you to get you to talk. Please don't give in. I'm still with you."
The note also urged Alex "to stay in touch with me or Mike." Chavis' brother is named Mike.
Jail director Williams said there's no chance of Chavis and the King brothers coming in contact in the jail.
"Because of the level of security surrounding these three individuals, their movements are closely scrutinized," he said.
He said, however, that he cannot guarantee that information is not passed between Chavis and the boys because they have several common visitors.
