KEMMERER — Lincoln County prisoner Dereck “DJ” Harrison, 23, arrested in Pinedale last summer with his father, made his initial appearance Thursday morning in Lincoln County Circuit Court, to hear four felony murder and kidnapping charges against him read by Judge Frank J. Zebre.

Harrison and his father, Flint Harrison — who hanged himself in a Utah jail last year — had been charged in June with the May 2016 death of Utah Transit Authority (UTA) employee Kay Porter Ricks.

The Harrisons allegedly kidnapped Ricks and stole his vehicle on May 12, 2016, and fled into Wyoming; Ricks’ body was found outside Kemmerer five days later, after the Harrisons had turned themselves in to the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) during an extensive manhunt initiated after authorities learned Flint Harrison owned a home in Pinedale.

The two had been returned to the Davis County (Utah) Jail where they remained to await the outcome of charges against them in Centerville, Utah. The younger Harrison pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree felony kidnapping and was sentenced in October to 30 years to life in a Utah prison.

Harrison was then transported to Lincoln County on Tuesday, March 28, to await his initial appearance on Thursday.

The Wyoming charges filed against the younger Harrison include first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder while kidnapping, kidnapping and wrongfully taking or disposal of property — Ricks’ UTA company vehicle.

Judge Zebre read Harrison his constitutional rights and explained the charges. Harrison waived the Circuit Court preliminary hearing, which moves his case to the Third District Court. 

There, Harrison will have an arraignment, which is not yet scheduled, at which he will enter a plea.

This raised the question of the possibility Harrison may have a plea bargain in the works based on his decision to waive the preliminary hearing. Lincoln County Attorney Spencer Allred commented on Harrison’s action.

“… Although we won’t speak for what we have worked out for the future.” said Allred, “at this point, his arraignment will be set in the District Court where he will enter his plea.”

Allred explained this is expected to happen perhaps in the next several weeks.

When asked Thursday if the state intends to pursue the death penalty, Allred replied, “No, we have not decided yet. We will be having that discussion in the next coming weeks prior to the arraignment.”

When asked to identify the alleged murder weapon Thursday, Allred would not comment.

“We are not prepared to say what the weapon was at this time,” he said.

After the hearing, KSL’s Sam Penrod spoke with Richard Massey, the spokesman for Ricks’ family. Massey said that after DJ and Flint Harrison were charged in Wyoming, the family wanted the two men to be extradited to face the murder charges.

“Utah decided to prosecute theirs first, which they had the opportunity to do and … we’re grateful for the outcome there,” Massey said. “But we are anxious to get the … murder charge settled in Wyoming, and we know that there’s probably some federal things that will happen after that.

“But for the family, that’s really their focus; their focus is what happened in Wyoming, because that’s where Kay lost his life, and we are anxious for … the state … Spencer Allred and his team to get those charges against DJ settled and to get him sentenced,” Massey continued.

He said that while the family is pleased to see the case moving forward, it reopens wounds every step of the way.

“It’s very difficult on the family — the ups and downs. Every time something comes up they have to relive everything and so now again they’ve kind of closed ranks, huddled together ,and they’re dealing with the memories of something that’s almost a year old. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost a year old … and every time it comes up, they have to relive everything.

“We’re … I don’t know if ‘glad’ is the right word, but … we’re relieved that he is in Wyoming and that they have started the process,” Massey said. “I will be there for the family for the proceedings that will happen in the coming weeks in Wyoming.”

Massey said one of the family’s goals is to make sure Harrison can’t do to anyone else what investigators say Harrison did to Ricks.

“He’s never gonna see the light of day anyway — that’s really what we wanted,” Massey said. “We just wanted to make sure that he would not be able to do this to anyone else. …

Even if Harrison is cooperative — like he was with Utah prosecutors — the charges he faces will take some time to be resolved.

“As one jurisdiction sentences him, then he goes to another jurisdiction that sentences him and then still a couple of more,” Massey said. ‘That gives the family some relief that it won’t happen to anyone else, but there’s not ever going to be any closure, there’s not ever going to be any … anything that stops them thinking constantly about the loss of Kay, and the way he was lost.”

Massey praised law enforcement for the time they’ve spent both on the case and keeping Ricks’ family informed.

“We’re looking forward to the process completing in Wyoming and know that they’re doing everything that they can,” he said. “All the law enforcement agencies have been extremely helpful in meeting with the family and explaining everything that’s going on so there aren’t questions. … We’re grateful that they have given us the time that they have and we’re grateful for everything that they’re doing on behalf of Kay and Kay’s family.”