Teenage brothers are found guilty of killing their father

Two Florida teenagers were found guilty yesterday of bludgeoning their father to death with a baseball bat in an unprecedented case in which a family friend was also charged with the same crime in a separate trial.

Derek and Alex King, aged 14 and 13 respectively, face up to 22 years' imprisonment after being convicted of second degree murder. The two boys were tried as adults, despite their age.

The case has received huge attention because – in addition to charging the two boys – prosecutors also brought to trial a family friend, Ricky Chavis, and accused him of the same murder. Mr Chavis – a previously convicted child molester – was found not guilty by a separate jury but the verdict was only revealed yesterday after the jury found the King brothers guilty.

In addition to questions being asked about the fairness of trying the two teenagers as adults, particularly given the evidence of abuse the boys had endured, legal experts have also questioned the validity of bringing almost identical charges against different defendants. Prosecutors alleged in the boys' trial that the boys killed their father and said in Mr Chavis' trial that he was the killer.

The case was made yet more bizarre by the boys' appearance as principal prosecution witnesses in the case against Mr Chavis. Alex King testified that he was having a sexual affair with Mr Chavis.

The two teenagers were found guilty of killing their father last November as he slept in his house in Cantonment, a small town just north of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle. They were also convicted of setting fire to the property.

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

The second-degree murder conviction carries a possible life sentence, but with a possibility of parole. A first-degree murder conviction would have carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

The King brothers confessed to the crime, offering details that no one who had not been at the crime scene could offer, lawyers for the prosecution said. Their defence team had argued that the confessions, which the boys later retracted, were Mr Chavis' version of the crime, and the pair tried to cover for him.