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SALT LAKE CITY — Already serving life sentences in two states, a man who helped his father kidnap a transit worker in Utah before killing him in Wyoming was given a third life sentence in federal court Thursday.
In a pair of hearings Thursday, Dereck "DJ" Harrison made his first appearance in federal court on charges of carjacking and kidnapping Utah Transit Authority employee Kay Ricks, then pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to prison.
Because 63-year-old Ricks was killed during the crime, the charges carried a potential death penalty, which federal prosecutors agreed not to pursue in exchange for Harrison's guilty plea.
In what is expected to be Harrison's final hearing for the shocking and violent crime spree at his father's side last year, the man's grandmother spoke of the pain her family has experienced, just as the victim's family has.
At moments fiery and at others sorrowful, Marlene Brown said the crimes committed by her grandson and his now-deceased father, Flint Harrison, were fueled by drugs, leaving the two unrecognizable from the good men she knew.
And through it all, she said, she believes Flint Harrison was the driving force.
"Dereck is really a great kid who got caught up in a horrific crime with someone who should have protected him, but who filled him with drugs instead," Brown said.
In addition to emphasizing that Flint Harrison had left his son "to fend for himself" in rural Wyoming as both men eventually turned themselves in to police, Brown shared a message of love from Dereck Harrison's mother, family, friends and neighbors.
"I want DJ to know that I love him to the moon and back, and when I die, I will be his guardian angel," she concluded.
Harrison did not give a statement in court Thursday — as he did through his attorney during his sentencing hearing in Wyoming — but offered a quiet "I love you, gram," as his grandmother returned to her seat.
Richard Massey, a friend of Ricks who has served as the family's spokesman, said the family is grateful that Harrison chose to admit to his role in the crime, which they believe was "secondary" to his father's actions, and shared their hope that all affected can heal.
Related:
UTA employee Kay Ricks remembered as 'endlessly forgiving'
Several hundred friends, family members and co-workers gathered at an LDS Chapel in American Fork to honor the life of Kay Ricks, UTA employee who was found dead on a dirt road outside Kemmerer, Wyoming after he and his UTA truck vanished on May 12.Emotional, Massey also explained that the Ricks family has found solace through their faith.
"We are a people of faith and we believe Kay and Flint have reconciled," Massey said.
The Harrisons' May 2016 crime spree began when they lured a mother and her four young daughters — ages 13, 15, 17 and 18 — to a Centerville home under the guise of inviting them to a barbecue, tying them up and assaulting them in the basement. The younger girls broke free, running for help.
The father and son fled at that point, beginning a manhunt that would last almost five days. Police say the next day they kidnapped Ricks from a Salt Lake TRAX stop where he was working and drove him to Wyoming in his UTA vehicle, brutally killing him and leaving his body on a rural road.
Following their arrest, Flint Harrison killed himself in a Davis County Jail cell.
Dereck Harrison went on to plead guilty in 2nd District Court in Farmington to kidnapping the woman and her daughters and was sentenced to four concurrent sentences of 15 years to life with a fifth 15-years-to-life term running consecutively.
Waiving extradition as part of the deal with prosecutors, Harrison was then sent to Wyoming where he pleaded guilty in April to murder in the first degree, dodging a potential death penalty in the case. The sentence runs consecutive to 20 years Harrison was ordered to serve for a kidnapping charge, and consecutive to his prison time in Utah.
Related:
DJ Harrison sentenced to life without parole in killing of UTA worker
Judge Joseph Bluemel on Wednesday accepted a plea deal worked out by prosecutors and the attorney for Dereck James “DJ” Harrison, and sentenced Harrison to life without the possibility of parole.As he pleaded guilty, Harrison told the judge he believed that after he and his father stole Ricks' UTA truck and fled to Wyoming, he believed they were going to let Ricks go when they stopped at a remote spot along state Route 189 outside Kemmerer.
Harrison said he returned to the truck to get Ricks' coat, fearing the man would get cold out in the open, and "when I turned around, my father was cutting his throat."
As Flint Harrison proceeded to beat Ricks over the head with a metal bar from the truck, an assault that lasted an estimated 18 minutes, Dereck Harrison said he returned to the vehicle in hopes they would just leave.
Harrison was sentenced in May to life without parole for Ricks' murder.
The federal charges were handed down last month.
Following Thursday's hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Michael Thorpe said that while Harrison has already been ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars, the third sentence offers added assurance he won't get a chance at parole if he attempts to appeal any of the sentences.
"There will be no opportunity for parole, so he will be in prison for the rest of his life," Thorpe said. "With other jurisdictions, nonfederal jurisdictions, we don't have that assurance. So today's change of plea and sentence ensures he will be in prison for the rest of his life."
Additionally, Thorpe said that even after the first two cases were adjudicated, there was still a need to level charges in Ricks' home state.
"(Ricks) is a beloved member of the community in American Fork and the crimes were committed here, so there were state interests that needed to be pursued," Thorpe said.
The federal life sentence runs concurrently to the Utah and Wyoming state court prison terms. As part of the deal, federal prosecutors in Wyoming agreed not to file any additional charges against Harrison.
