and merchants that sell our product. vo: get the card built for business spending. call 1-8ow-open toind out how the gold card can serve your business. state your name. >> has the jury reached a verdict? >> we the jury find -- state your name. >> this was how we met them. >> alex david king. >> two little boys, alex and derek king, accused of beating their own father to death. remember them? they were charged as adults in a tangled, baffling case that would generate supercharged headlines. >> alex, did you have sexual relationship with ricky? >> yes, sir. >> can i please take a break, judge? >> then they were convicted, gone, their future in ruins. or maybe not? >> i'm actually out here free again.

everything i've been dreaming of for years. >> here they are today. >> i already did enough to destroy my past. why should i continue to destroy my present and the future? >> tonight, in exclusive interviews, the first ever, the brothers talk about their catastrophic childhoods and the public trial and the astonishing turns their lives have taken. >> a lot of people support us. i want to show them all that effort wasn't in vain. >> whatever happened to alex and derek king? in this hour, can they escape from the past? >> thanks for joining us. i'm ann curry. each year, thousands of children and teenagers are sent to criminal court to face trial as adults. on thanksgiving weekend 2001, the case of the king brothers put a human face on that statistic. the image of those little boys standing before a judge set off alarm and debate but few would have argued either boy had much of a future.

here's keith morrison on what happened to alex and derek king. >> you solemnly swear -- >> to this day, does anyone understand how it happened? they were so young, too young, some said back then, even to understand the awful thing they did. >> everybody step out of the courtroom, please. >> here they were, just over eight years ago, two little boys in leg irons. they looked so innocent, guileless, as they stood before a judge to hear the charge that they had killed their own father with a baseball bat. >> a shocking case coming out of florida. >> alex and derek king. >> did they kill their own father. >> little boys? how was it possible and how should the courts deal with them? how indeed? >> it blows me away. it's just so shocking that i would do something like that. >> the little boys are not little anymore. >> i remember very clearly what i went through. i remember very clearly the

price that i paid for my mistakes. >> tonight, the first interviews alex and derek king have ever given about a horrible baffling crime and the surprising turns their lives have taken since. how did it begin? well, it started with a family, two boys barely toddlers, their father, terry king, a printer by trade, and a mother who paid the bills as an exotic dancer. when the boys were 6 and 7, she abandoned them all. it didn't take long for single parent life to overwhelm the father. his older boy, derek, was a live wire, so he sent him away to live with a foster family. after that, derek rarely saw his father and little brother, but he seemed to be doing all right with his new family. ♪ >> the younger brother, alex, stayed with his father, keeping quiet, doing what he was told.

he attended the pentecostal church with relatives, went to school off and on and stayed with a family friend, rick chavis, when his father was busy. >> he was financially, you know, in a bind for a while. >> as for derek, he had been living with that foster family for about six years, when he started acting out. so in the fall of 2001, his foster family sent him back to his father. dad and boys together again. seven weeks later, terry king was dead. it happened the sunday after thanksgiving, firefighters responding to a house fire, found king dead in his recliner, his head smashed in. the boys now 12 and 13 were gone when their father's body was found. two days later, rick chavis turned them over to police. that's when they confessed. >> i made sure he was asleep. i got the bat and i hit him over the head.

>> derek said he did the killing. >> i hit him once and i heard him moan, then i was afraid he might wake up and see us so i just kept on hitting him. >> alex said he was behind it all. >> derek took the hits but i was the one that gave him the idea. >> the boys also admitted they had started the fire to cover up the killing. >> my anger was so overwhelming that i just did what i thought was right. >> what he thought was right? had their father beaten them? abused them? not really, said the boys. he did hit them occasionally. but their friend, rick chavis, said it was more like mental abuse, just the way their father, terry, looked at them. >> it was just a real hard stare, i mean, it was like one of those type stares. >> chavis says he told the boys to watch out for that kind of mental abuse. >> i was truly worried. but what can i do?

>> but aside from that, said the boys, terry wasn't a bad father. >> did he try the best he could? >> yes. >> yet here they were, alex and derek king, at 12 and 13, two of the youngest children ever to be charged with murder and arson as adults. >> state your full legal name. >> alex david king. >> they faced a possible sentence of 22 years to life. >> i have never imagined in a million years children were capable of this. >> from the start, investigators were as perplexed as anyone about the motive behind the murder. but that family friend, rick chavis, caught their interest. he lived in a compound filled with video games and computers, things kids craved. he had a record, in 1984, convicted of sexually abusing two 13-year-old boys, and he seemed especially fond of alex.

all this information clearly troubling, but still the boys freely confessed to the murder. so charged as adults, they spent six months in the county jail awaiting trial. then it was the spring of 2002. they suddenly changed their story. they didn't kill their father, alex and derek told a grand jury. the real killer was rick chavis. >> coming up, two back-to-back trials loaded with shocking allegations. later for the first time, alex and derek king -- >> a convict, ex-con, murderer, if that's what i define myself as, then i'm never going to become more than just that. >> when "escape from the past" continues.

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rarely has a story captured

the public's attention the way this one did. >> two children accused of a murder where the victim was their own father. >> two brothers, ages 13 and 14. >> it's called parenticide. a child killing a parent. >> two brothers confessed to killing their father with a baseball bat. but then they changed their story claiming they didn't murder their father. their family friend, rick chavis did it. so they all were charged with the murder of the boy's father and rick chavis would be the first to go on trial. >> this is a very unusual set of circumstances. >> unusual because the boys would be tried as adults on that same charge as soon as rick's trial was over. >> i think for a prosecutor to try two cases this way is absolutely unheard of. >> watching from the sidelines back then, as mystified as everyone else was a stranger named kathryn medico.

she was a journalism professor who had heard about the case from a former student, now a reporter. >> i called her and i said, this needs looking into a little. so we began as a team, just to try to solve the mystery. it led to the writing of a book. >> for her research kathryn medico had begun writing the brothers, talking by phone. her daughters had gone to the same school as the boys and were about the same age. they took an interest as well. >> they felt a connection early on and they began talking on the phone for hours and hours. >> when rick chavis' trial began, kathryn medico brought her daughters to court. it was august 2002 with defendant rick chavis standing there listening, alex took the witness stand. this would be the first time television audiences would hear from the boys. and what they heard was jaw-dropping. >> alex, did you have a sexual relationship with ricky chavis? >> yes, sir. >> when did that begin? >> i don't know.

>> did you at some point believe you were in love with ricky chavis? >> yes, sir. >> prosecutor david rimmer laid out the theory that chavis had killed the boys' father to get him out of the way so he could have alex to himself. alex testified on the night of the murder, he and derek were asleep in their house, their father was asleep, too, when rick sneaked in. >> rick came in our room and he woke derek up and told us to be quiet. >> it was just after midnight, alex testified. he said he and his brother went out to chavis' car and waited. then chavis came out of the house and drove then to his house. it was there, said alex, that chavis told the boys he had killed their father. >> he said he had done it for us, like he said that my dad would have killed us before he let us go live with him. >> derek king told jurors essentially the same story, then

answered a question about his relationship with his father. >> i did like it with him. when i was there with him and around with him. but he said that he'd make it better and that he'd -- he'd -- he would help us and like make it better and give us stuff, like get a tv and stuff like that. but he didn't have a chance to. >> can i please take a break, judge? >> that's fine. >> then chavis' attorney presented his defense and the key to it all was the boy's description of their father's death in that detailed confession. >> and he was still trying to breathe and made sort of like a sound like a person who has a slightly stopped-up nose. >> the chavis case went to a jury and the panel reached its decision in a relatively short period of time.

but just what the decision was remained a secret under seal until after alex and derek king could go to trial for the very same charge. opening arguments in their case would begin the following month. so next the trial of the king brothers. the jailhouse scrubs were gone and the brothers were dressed in their sunday best. now they were the defendants, accused of the premeditated murder of their father. >> alex was the one who wanted his father dead, who encouraged his brother, derek, to do it. >> derek didn't take the witness stand this time, but alex did. again, his relationship with chavis provided prosecutors with their motive. >> you've identified all these love letters that you wrote to rick. >> yes, sir. >> these were extraordinary notes that alex, barely 12 years old, had written about rick chavis. my life used to be cloudy before i made friends with rick. 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 prosecutor suggested these notes showed alex was so fixated on chavis that he would kill his own father. but when it came time for the boys' defense their attorney portrayed rick chavis as the pedophile who pulled the strings in this whole ugly mess. >> once he began his relationship on alex, he started more on, terry can't love you the way i can, terry is abusive and derek has been allowed to watch as this 40-year-old pedophile sits alex on his lap and kisses him. >> the boys' defense suggested that chavis had lured them into a private play world and then convinced them to take the fall for him. >> he let us smoke weed and like play his games and stuff. >> the stakes couldn't have been higher. and yet kathy medico says the

boys didn't seem to really grasp it. >> when james stokes, the attorney for alex, was giving this very impassioned plea before the jury fighting for this child's life literally he finally went and sat down at the defense table and looked over at alex to see alex's reaction and alex was hiding a laugh. he had no concept. he was oblivious to what was going on. >> the jurors almost certainly noticed that childish demeanor. but what did it mean? that these children were so emotionally detached they really could have beaten their father to death or they were so infantile they could be manipulated into covering for rick chavis? coming up, after the verdicts, some outsiders stepped in to help the king brothers. >> how many people thought you were out of your mind? >> later, exclusive interviews with alex and derek king today, when "escape from the past" continues.

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in the waning days of summer 2002, while most kids were getting ready to head back to school, alex king and his brother, derek, were waiting to find out if they were heading to prison. would a jury convict them of murdering their father with a baseball bat? in five hours, the boys had their answer. >> the clerk's office would publish those two verdicts, please. >> jurors said it was alex's banal but horrifying description of the murder scene that told them the boys weren't in rick chavis' car at all. they were there in the house present in the killing. >> and he was still trying to breathe and um made sort of like a sound like the person who has a slightly stopped-up nose. the boys knew too much. but rick chavis was there, too they thought. he may have even swung the bat. and that explains their verdict. >> guilty of second degree murder without a weapon. >> given all the controversy, was the state of florida really going to send these boys to

adult prison? apparently, the judge had his own misgivings. a month later, he threw out their convictions and the lawyers worked out a deal. the boys pleaded guilty to third degree murder. alex was sentenced to seven years, derek, eight. they would end up serving time in separate florida juvenile detention centers. and rick chavis? his jury didn't like him. but they didn't think there was enough evidence that he swung the bat. so -- >> as to count i of the indictment, not guilty. >> chavis was acquitted. the courts weren't through with chavis. a few months later he was charged with lewd and lascivious battery involving alex. but again he was acquitted. but chavis faced more charges related to the murder because he had hidden the boys and washed their bloody clothes that night. this time, he was convicted of accessory after the fact of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

he's now serving 35 years in prison. so the case was settled in a way and writer kathryn medico had her book. but she wasn't done with the boys because her interest had become deeply personal. she had spent months writing letters to them, talking on the phone and she developed a special bond with alex. she didn't actually meet him until late 2002 when she got a chance to visit him in prison. >> as soon as i met him, there was just a connection, as though he was a child that needed me in some way, and i stopped being a journalist and i started being a mother. i found him to be so terribly alone, and it just spoke to my soul in a way that is hard to explain. but i felt that i didn't want to abandon him, because he had been abandoned by just about every adult in his life. kathryn and her family frequently wrote to alex and visited him in prison.

how many people thought you were out of your mind? >> i don't know. a substantial amount, i'm sure. >> yeah. did you wonder yourself if -- >> never. never. it was a knowing. it was an absolute knowing within my spirit that i had a connection to this child. >> why? >> we would sit down and have such compelling conversations from the first moment that i felt very comfortable and he felt comfortable. >> she had turned out wasn't the only stranger taking a personal interest in the boys. across the midwest and texas, a handful of people came together on the internet to express outrage once again, children had been thrown into the adult legal system. gradually, this anger morphed into more concrete support for the boys. in 2003, this group of strangers founded the king brothers trust. lisa drew alton started it all.

>> it was a gesture of faith and hope for them we will be here for you. the people involved in the trust will be here for you and there's some money there to help you get started in your life. >> lisa had gotten to know a man named dan daly online. daly is a widower and free lance writer that lived in texas and the king brothers' case galvanized him into action. as he tells it, he sort of happened into a friendship with derek after lisa suggested he send the boys books in prison. >> then i got this thank you letter from derek. and i really couldn't believe it. yet here i was holding a letter from derek king. it was the beginning of our friendship. >> they wrote frequently. if there's any lingering doubt about what really happened, daly said he was impressed that derek readily admitted his guilt. several times, he made the drive out to florida to visit derek in prison, another stranger entering the lives of the king brothers.

random people waiting on the outside while the boys grew up in prison, from children to teenagers, to young men. >> this is a chance to really help someone change their life. derek has really had one of the worst lives of anyone that i've ever heard of. i mean, he's basically been a prisoner since he was 6 years old. i mean, for two-thirds of his life, he's been a prisoner and not allowed to do -- to do anything. that has purpose and meaning. and now that he's out, i think that he's finally getting a chance in life that he never had at the beginning. >> all this attention and care to two boys who became famous by killing their father.

were they worth it? they say you can read a person's soul by looking in his eyes. what's going on behind these eyes? coming up, for the first time, alex king faces questions about his troubled childhood and that terrible crime. so what made it happen? what was the trigger? painful memories, when "escape from the past" continues.

here's what's happening. the white house is ordering its own review the energy loan department after it loaned half a billion dollars to a california solar company that went bankrupt. winter storm watches are in effect from virginia to maine as the northeast braces for its first real taste of winter. the st. louis cardinals beat the

rangers to win the world series title. now back to "escape from the past." two boys, famous, infamous for murdering their own father, boys who grew up in prison, where young offenders can harden into full-fledged criminals. so what became of derek and alex king? now, an exclusive interview, a chance to find out. >> tell me how you're doing. >> how am i doing? well, presently, i am fabulous. >> well, that's good. that's how alex king talks. troublesome memories, he steers clear of them, keeps it light. nearly two years out of prison, 19-year-old alex king is savoring the life he's found with the kind of family he never dreamed he'd have. and he'll tell you he's a very different kid than the one who went to prison.

>> it was as though i was walking around dazed all the time, not processing, not registering the fact what was around me was actually real. >> alex talks vaguely about his first few years in prison. mostly, he says he felt nothing. then, in april 2005, with three years left to go on his sentence, he pulled a stunt that could have added 15 more years and it woke him up. >> who would have thought a moment of utter stupidity would have brought me to my senses. >> he and another boy tried to escape. what did you do? >> we made our beds up to look like there was somebody there using our clothes. we just went into the classroom and we tried to escape through the roof. >> through the ceiling? >> through the ceiling. but it didn't work and -- >> where did you wind up? >> we got -- went back in the classroom and, really, there was nothing that we could do. >> except say, oh, we're done.

>> we really are stupid. >> they were caught of course, taken to county jail, and booked on a whole new set of charges. >> i went to see him and said, to him, i've been so worried about you. that's when he said, you don't have to worry about me, you're not my mother. i said, oh, yes, i am. i am. i told him he was my son as much as my children were. he didn't say anything at that moment, but later on, the letters were addressed, dear mother. and he's called me mother ever since. >> then alex caught a very big break. instead of giving him more prison time, the judge gave him a second chance, sending him back to the juvenile facility to finish his sentence. and perhaps for the first time in his life, alex began to do some grown-up thinking. >> it really hit me my actions don't affect me alone, they affect other people. and i really felt things for the first time.

>> he read, he prayed, he studied. the boy whose education had been spotty at best was hitting the books in prison. his keen mind was finally engaged, and he earned his high school diploma. and on april 9, 2008, alex left prison in south florida to begin a life with the family of kathryn medico. >> it was a wonderful day. walking out of the gates was -- i was just kind of stunned. >> anything stand out in the first few days? weeks? >> the main thing, just being with family. >> which brings us to jacksonville, florida, and this neatly manicured suburb. it is here that alex king is settling into that new life of his. and from here, the chaos and poverty of his childhood and the crushing monotony of prison life must seem to be light years away. the adjustment was not instant, but in time, kathryn and alex

learned to talk easily, though kathryn says they have never discussed alex's role in the brutal murder of his father. >> what can you tell me about your dad? >> i don't have too many memories of his personality because we didn't have too good of communication. he was usually tired a lot from having to work and running around, and he was always stressed. and so he slept a lot. >> they were poor, they moved a lot and terry was often out of work. >> what kind of work would he do? >> he worked at printing shop. >> sometimes took alex with him. sometimes on the night shift, alex slept there, nowhere else to go. >> and it just kind of left me in that state where i'm confused and not really knowing anything around me. >> no friends? >> no friends. nothing. >> alex wasn't in school long enough to know anybody. then we mentioned the one who called himself friend, rick chavis. and the cheerful chatty alex got quiet. >> a kid like that is sort of a sitting duck for somebody with video games and a compound you

can go to and all the treats to give you and things like that. this guy -- >> rick? >> this guy presented himself. was it in that situation kind of? >> really, i don't think about it. i don't dwell on it. but it's not a really joyful part of my life. >> clearly, alex was also uncomfortable when the questions turned to his father's murder. >> so what made it happen? what was the trigger? that's what i still don't get. >> the trigger? >> yeah. >> i don't really know. maybe it was stress, you know. maybe it was ricky chavis' influence. maybe it was -- i don't know -- something else. i really -- i can't say. >> instead of talking directly about his role in the murder, alex talks about making bad decisions. just take ownership of it for one second. what's the worst choice you made? >> what's the worst choice i made?

i honestly can't say what the worst choice was. >> they said that it was you who had the idea to do to your father what eventually was done. was that the worst of your decisions? can i help you out with that? >> i'll say this. i really don't know what the worst of my decisions was. i made bad decisions. that's blatantly obvious. >> i want to know how this could happen to a 12-year-old boy, how you and your brother could wind up doing what you did. >> you know, since i've been out, i've read things that centered around the whole trial and everything. it's like it's another person that i'm reading about. >> when you see the pictures of

that young tow-headed boy in court, does that not feel like it's you? >> it doesn't. i don't even -- it's to the point now i don't even associate myself with the person who went through all that. >> does he know what's in that memory locker of his? will he ever open it, even to himself? >> it's more one of those things i'd just rather forget. i have my family. i have my friends. i have a life now. >> when alex talks about family, he means the people he lives with here in jacksonville. they of course are not blood relatives. he seems to have not very much interest in seeing his birth mother. maybe some day, he says. then there's his brother, and, well, that's complicated, isn't it? >> i've spent very little time with him actually throughout my life. we've not really had much chance to form any bonds or any real relationships or anything. >> and those who know them will

tell you how different they are, always have been. alex is reserved, derek, outgoing. and according to his confession, derek is also the one who did the killing. so now that derek is out of prison, he'll face the same kind of curiosity and questions his brother has faced. how will he answer? coming up, derek king, in his first interview, facing up to the crime. >> i've realized what i've done, but we can't change the past. >> when "escape from the past" continues. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it. so you're seriously proposing we change our

name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing? sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. do you have an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation, or afib, that's not caused by a heart valve problem? are you taking warfarin to reduce your risk of stroke caused by a clot? you should know about pradaxa. an important study showed that pradaxa 150mg reduced stroke risk 35% more than warfarin. and with pradaxa, there's no need for those regular blood tests. pradaxa is progress. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding, and seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. pradaxa may increase your bleeding risk if you're 75 or older, have kidney problems

or a bleeding condition, like stomach ulcers. or if you take aspirin products, nsaids, or blood thinners. tell your doctor about all medicines you take, any planned medical or dental procedures, and don't stop taking pradaxa without your doctors approval, as stopping may increase your stroke risk. other side effects include indigestion,stomach pain, upset, or burning. if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. for more information or help paying for pradaxa, visit pradaxa.com. any sec---o-m-g dad, you are not meeting him looking like that. i look fine. just a little trouble with a bargain brand cooking spray. quick, hide yourself behind the butter.

do i embarrass you? yeah. i told you like a gajillion times to use new and improved pam so you'd come out in one piece like those muffins up there. look i gotta go. have fun cupcake! i will totally die if you call me that in public ever again. pam helps you like pull it off even better. guaranteed. whoa! at least katie got one. >> alex king wound up in an ordinary american suburb.

derek king, far from it. in fact, derek, 21 and fresh out of prison, landed pretty far away from just about everything. we met up with him about two months after his release in a remote part of the southwest, living off the grid. >> i like time alone, away from everything, away from all buildings and people. i like going out hiking. i see a lot of wildlife and deer. i did see a bear one time. that was interesting. >> a quiet retreat to a rough hewn house owned by that man who sent him those books years ago, dan daly. derek was just getting his footing and savoring all his newfound freedom after eight years behind bars. >> it's kind of like when scrooge in "the christmas carol" woke up on christmas day and realized how close he was and what his life could be like and

when he woke up that morning, he had a second chance. >> alex and derek's mother didn't visit them too often in prison, but she was with derek the day he walked out. he remembers it as just about the happiest moment in his life. happiness for derek was hard to come by. his early childhood is a blur. but he holds on to a smattering of pleasant images, a little boy with a brother, a mother and a father. >> it wouldn't be something that i could describe. just pictures. nothing much else. >> and nothing that lasted. derek was just 7 when he went to that foster home. he still doesn't understand why. but he says it wasn't all bad. he enrolled in classes for gifted children. he says the family was stable. >> they took me in and raised me as if i was one of their own. i was with them seven or eight years. >> derek admits he made it tough for them. he wouldn't listen, caused trouble.

that's why they sent him back to his father after all those years. and of course when they did, his life hit a hairpin turn and a ruinous one. >> the change in surroundings was very difficult because i just came from a family, you know, that had been married, have kids, grow up and stuff like that. my dad was a single father of two boys, and he was trying to make it on his own and provide for his kids. >> if his father had been seriously abusive, that might explain why derek killed him. but derek never blames his father or anyone else, not even rick chavis, not now, anyway. >> i really don't want to focus on it. i've tried to put it behind me. it was horrible. >> now, derek turns to the murder, the trial, the aftermath. >> it blows me away. i mean, it's just so shocking that i would do something like

that and that i was so close to being -- you know, being lost forever. i don't know. it's kind of like slowing down a video and seeing a bullet graze past your head. >> the trial, he says, is hazy. but the verdict, now, that he remembers because it brought his fate into focus. >> guilty of second degree murder. >> i was in a state of shock. i was numb. i didn't think anything. i didn't feel anything. it was just like the reality of the situation sunk in. >> derek, like alex, avoided going into details about the murder itself, but he did talk about the crime and its impact. >> i've realized what i've done. and if i had a chance to do everything over again, i would never have done. but we can't change the past. if i dwell on and if i beat myself up over, i'll always feel

guilty and i'll always feel the shame, if i'm always saying, well, always considering myself a convict, ex-con, murderer. if that's what i define myself as, then i'm never going to become more than just that. >> and began the question of why? more than eight years ago, derek confessed to some terrible anger he had that night. >> my anger just so overwhelming that i just did what i thought was right. >> so what happened to all that anger? is it still there? >> i don't know what triggered the murder. that's one of the things i want to study and i want to understand so i can move on past it. >> there is someone who might be able to help him figure it out, someone who knows what he knows. derek and alex will be joined forever by the childhoods they lost and the death they'd like to forget. coming up, separated for

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you could have bet good money back in 2001 that no good would come of the king brothers. so how do you explain alex king and the life he's led since prison? the scrapbook kathryn medico put together speaks volumes about a lost boy's extraordinary opportunities and a mother's commitment. >> i have had the wonderful fortune of having people in my life to help me and to guide me, and the most prominent is my mom.

another good example is my sister. whenever i'm feeling down or depressed, i can always talk to her. actually, another prime example is deepak chopra. >> ah, yes, deepak chopra, doctor, philosopher, peace activist. that deepak chopra. he, too, has taken an interest in alex king. it all started when kathryn took alex to his peace conference in barcelona. they were asked to speak. >> at the age of 12, i was very naive. i became entangled in a legal system. >> just a few months out of prison and here he was. >> i'm just so grateful for the opportunity to expand, be something more than what i was. >> deepak chopra asked alex to talk to young americans about non-violence, and he has.

he's visited high schools and given talks, steering clear of probing questions, mind you, about his conviction for murder. >> what happened to make you get incarcerated? >> what happened to make me incarcerated? well, let's say i was put in a bad situation and i did not make the best of it. and so, yeah, i made some pretty bad decisions. >> alex's foray into public service almost makes up for a huge disappointment he's faced since his release. he can't get a job. >> it was very difficult because he came out very excited about working and was willing to do absolutely anything. so we immediately hit the pavement and applied at the grocery store. we applied for construction jobs. we applied for dishwashing jobs. and it would get to the point where it would say, have you been convicted of a felony? and he always wrote down quite honestly, yes, he had. that stopped everything dead in its tracks. >> so he focuses on his education. he's enrolled in a community college and working hard.

>> i guess my true passion career-wise would be microbiology. >> that's quite an ambition. that's great. >> thank you. >> at the same time, you like reading also? >> love to read. >> yeah! >> he really comes alive with family and friends. alex has friends, more than he ever did as a kid. and he dates. >> i love you, too. >> what's absent from this happy picture is derek. he's just getting started at life on the outside and desperate to shake off his old life on the inside. >> i've encountered a lot of people, oh, this is all you're going to be. you grew up in prison, six months, you'll be back. >> he says he'll prove them wrong. last june, derek traveled to springfield, missouri, to meet some of the people who have supported him and alex all these years.

>> i was like, hold on, i'll be ready in just a second. >> they weren't family but they cared. >> lisa drew alton took derek to the dentist and eye doctor. her family dragged him out for some fun. >> they accepted me as if my past had never happened. they accepted me for being a person, who i am. >> we pay a lot of lip service to giving kids a second chance, but the fact is it doesn't happen very often. the prejudices one meets in this world are really pretty crushing. a lot of people are judgmental, mean-spirited and really don't want these kids to succeed. >> dan daly and kathryn medico and others, the random people who surfaced in these boy's lives all agree on one thing, that children should not be tried as adults. these boys, they say, were lucky. in fact, kathryn medico says alex king was saved when he was taken out of the adult prison

system. >> he ended up being in a juvenile institution for seven years, which i feel was completely appropriate. now, had we given him 15 or 20 years to think about it, i really think he would not be salvageable. >> the brothers say they're grateful for all this. but something's been missing. for all these years, they've been apart. remember when we first met alex, he hadn't even seen derek since they went to juvenile detention. some of the adults around them felt that was okay, given their history. this past summer, derek and alex took charge. they met in pensacola for a brief and quiet reunion. then in late july, derek was invited to a weekend long birthday blowout for alex, who was turning 20. >> we're at the marriott in orlando and we're here for my birthday party, having a blast. >> rock on! >> nothing quiet about this

visit. derek was suddenly immersed in a very different kind of life, alex's life, complete with family and friends his own age. it all seems so normal. but given the underpinnings of this extraordinary reunion, it was anything but. what do they think about, talk about now? we started with a question about second chances, and both brothers agree they are deeply grateful to those who made that happen. >> i don't say i owe it to them, but i want to show them that all that effort wasn't in vain. >> and alex? >> well, he's been out a lot longer than derek, long enough to know that people outside his devoted inner circle, potential employers, for instance, don't always welcome a convicted killer. he's starting to wonder if he'll ever get that job. >> when i go in for that, all they see is the record. and a lot of people that i meet, that's the only thing that they seem to see.

it's the only thing they recognize about me. >> that hint of bitterness disappears when alex talks about his friends and the joy of life's unexpected turns. >> i would have never imagined this. [ thunder ] nice! that was awesome. >> did you see the lightning? >> a spontaneous moment to break the ice and start a conversation about the future. they talked about the possibility of being together again. >> oh, yeah. >> yeah. >> that's my brother there. hopefully soon we'll be living together, hopefully. that will be great. >> start back over and start fresh, you know. >> yeah. >> easy to talk about on a weekend loaded with family love and good intentions. >> can't exactly slow dance with a cigar hanging out of your mouth. >> but are they serious about being together after so much time apart? apparently, yes. ♪ happy birthday to you

>> shortly after the party, derek made a surprising announcement, or maybe it wasn't such a surprise. he's moving to jacksonville. true to form, kathryn medico is stepping in now for derek. >> oh, nice. >> she's enrolled him in the same community college alex attends and will help him rent an apartment walking distance from school. derek's reasoning is clear. they've been through so much together -- fractured childhoods, a shocking murder whose intimate details only they really know, a trial in the public eye. now derek wants to share something redemptive. he wants an education, he wants friends. above all, he wants a brother. >> there's more on this story on our website at msnbc.com. that's all for now. i am ann curry. for all of us re