Man to be sentenced in killing of Utah train worker
A Utah man is set to be sentenced Wednesday in Wyoming one year after authorities say he and his father killed a Utah rail line worker while on the run from police after a kidnapping of a mother and her daughters.
The 23-year-old Dereck James “DJ” Harrison pleaded guilty last month to first-degree murder in the slaying of 63-year-old Kay Porter Ricks. Harrison avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty. He is expected to get life without parole.
A friend of Ricks who has served as the family spokesman is scheduled to speak on behalf of the family about how the killing has impacted the man’s widow and their children and grandkids.
Harrison’s father, Flint Harrison, killed himself in a Utah jail last year.
DJ Harrison will have a chance to speak during the hearing in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
