WYOMING – The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office announced today they have taken custody of Dereck James “DJ” Harrison, completing a prisoner transfer from the Utah Department of Corrections to the Lincoln County Jail in Kemmerer, Wyo.
Harrison, 23, will face charges filed in Wyoming accusing him of the kidnapping and murder of a Utah Transit Authority employee on May 10, 2016. Harrison accepted a plea deal last fall in Utah where he was sentenced on five counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony. Harrison admitted to kidnapping a Centerville, Utah mother and her four teenage daughters and tying them in their basement. His father, Flint Harrison, was facing similar charges but killed himself in jail last July while awaiting trial.
Wyoming authorities are alleging the Harrisons then kidnapped the family’s patriarch Kay Ricks, 63, stole his UTA truck, and drove him to Wyoming where they beat him to death on a dirt road 16 miles south of Kemmerer.
The plea deal in Utah resulted in Harrison receiving from Judge Michael Allphin 30 years in prison—four concurrent 15-year sentences and a fifth count to run consecutively. Sixteen other charges against Harrison were dropped in an effort to have the accused face stiffer charges in Wyoming as soon as possible.
According to Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Spencer Allred, Harrison will make his initial appearance in Circuit Court on Thursday, March 30 at 9 am. At that time, Harrison will be advised of the charges against him and bail will be set.
