King boy's lawyer, Florida businessman killed in Alabama plane crash

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A lawyer who defended one of two adolescent brothers who killed their father with an aluminum baseball bat died in an Alabama plane crash along with another man, authorities said Thursday.

Attorney James Randall Stokes, 47, and businessman John Bliss Johnson Jr., 50, both of nearby Cantonment, died when their "small, ultra-light type plane" crashed Wednesday night near Elsanor, Ala., Baldwin County sheriff's officials said. They had taken off from Cantonment. It was not immediately known which man was the pilot.

Stokes represented Alex King for free in a Pensacola trial that drew national attention because of the defendants' ages and their attempt to pin the blame on family friend and convicted child molester, Ricky Chavis.

Alex was 12 and his brother, Derek, was 13 when they killed their father, Terry King, 40, as he slept at their Cantonment home. The boys had just returned after having run away and spending about 10 days with Chavis, who also hid them at his Pensacola home after the murder.

Chavis, 41, also was tried for the killing and his verdict sealed until the King brothers' trial was completed. All three were accused of first-degree murder and faced possible life sentences.

Chavis was acquitted. The King boys' jury convicted them of second-degree murder, but the judge threw out the verdict and took the unusual step of ordering mediation to settle the case. Both boys then pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.

Alex, now 13, and Derek, now 15, are serving seven- and eight-year sentences in separate juvenile prisons. Chavis was tried twice more, resulting in convictions for falsely imprisoning Alex, being an accessory to murder and tampering with evidence. He received sentences totaling 35 years but was acquitted of molesting Alex.

Stokes also was defending another juvenile, Daniel Carter, 15, who is charged with first-degree murder for fatally stabbing his uncle. The teen claims he acted in self-defense when he killed Jack Lloyd Carter last July 16. The trial is set for July 14 but likely will be delayed due to Stokes' death.

Some witnesses to the plane crash reported hearing sounds "like the fluttering of an engine" before the plane went down, landing in a tree, but none saw the crash, officials said.

"We were out in the yard and at the spur of the moment looked up and said, `Oh, there's an ultra-light,'" Bruce Bonner, who said he lives about a mile from the crash site, told the Mobile Register. "He kind of made a turn and the engine just got quieter, just went dead."

After hearing the crash and calling 911, Bonner went to the site, he said.

"It was in a rural area, probably took about 20 minutes for them to find the guys," he said.

Authorities sealed the area Wednesday night and continued the investigation Thursday.

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