The entrance to Ross Creek where the body of Patrick Hayes was discovered after being shot by Greg DeBoer in September 2024. Photo: Michele Roepke // TownLift

WASATCH COUNTY — Days ahead of a scheduled Nov. 5 arraignment for Greg DeBoer, the Summit County man who shot and killed Patrick Hayes near Ross Creek last year, the Hayes family is calling for an independent review of the investigation—alleging bias and mishandling by local authorities.

Through their attorney, Jim Bradshaw, the family says the Wasatch County Attorney’s Office (WCAO) and Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) failed to properly investigate the 2024 shooting and wrongly declined to pursue homicide charges. DeBoer is currently charged with a single count of obstruction of justice for allegedly burying the gun used to shoot Hayes in his backyard.

In a formal complaint sent to state and county officials, the Hayes family accuses investigators and prosecutors of “resistance, silence, and indifference,” saying they were excluded from key decisions, including the determination not to charge DeBoer with homicide and a plea offer made without their knowledge. The complaint also cites a report by Judge Richard McKelvie that found internal dysfunction within the WCSO and detailed how two lead investigators were abruptly removed from the case.

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One of those officers, retired Lt. Shane Fredrickson, told TownLift last week that the decision not to arrest DeBoer during the service of a search warrant was “highly irregular.”

“I don’t know how you can decide ahead of time that there won’t be an arrest,” Fredrickson said. “You don’t know what evidence you’ll uncover until you execute the warrant. That doesn’t pass the smell test.”

Fredrickson, who served more than three decades in Utah law enforcement, said he intended to arrest DeBoer but was overruled at the scene by Undersheriff Josh Probst.

“The suspect was released,” Fredrickson said. “The investigation wasn’t carried out the way it should have been.”

The McKelvie report stated that Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby and Undersheriff Josh Probst’s intervention may have limited investigators’ ability to gather critical evidence.

Bradshaw, said the county’s handling of the case “appears geared toward protecting Mr. DeBoer,” and that claims of self-defense “don’t align with Utah law.”

“Utah has a duty-to-retreat statute, not a Stand Your Ground law,” Bradshaw said. “It does not excuse DeBoer’s conduct or provide him any legal protection here.”

Under Utah Code § 76-2-402(3), a person is not justified in using force if they provoke violence, commit or flee from a felony, or act as the aggressor without first withdrawing from the encounter. Bradshaw said that based on available evidence, DeBoer appears to have initiated the confrontation that ended in Hayes’s death. “It’s astonishing that no homicide charge has been filed,” he said.

In a statement released Monday, the Wasatch County Attorney’s Office (WCAO) defended its decision, saying prosecutors did not believe they could disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt based on available, admissible evidence.

The office cited Utah’s “defense of vehicle” statute (U.C.A. 76-2-405), which allows deadly force if someone “reasonably believes” it is necessary to prevent a violent entry or assault while lawfully inside their vehicle. Prosecutors said that because DeBoer was in his car when Hayes approached with a baton and knife in hand, “there is not admissible evidence that can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defense of vehicle does not apply,” the statement said.

“The threat of depriving an individual of property and liberty by action of the state requires prosecutors to act only when they believe there is a likelihood of conviction,” the statement read. “We do not believe that the evidence can disprove beyond a reasonable doubt the assertion of self-defense in this case.”

The WCAO also emphasized that Utah law provides strong procedural protections for defendants who claim self-defense, including a Justification Hearing in which the state must first prove to a judge that self-defense does not apply before a case proceeds to trial.

Bradshaw has stated that according to the Principles of Criminal Responsibility code, he believes DeBoer would not qualify to be able to claim self defense because he failed on all three criteria outlined in the statute.

WCAO said they consulted attorneys from two other offices in Utah before finalizing the decision and that those prosecutors agreed with the analysis.

Surveillance footage shows the what happened between DeBoer and Hayes on Sept. 25, 2024, near the entrance to Ross Creek Day Use Area. DeBoer followed Hayes to the entrance of Ross Creek. According to the county’s account, Hayes exited his car with a plastic baton and knife. This can not be seen in the surveillance footage. DeBoer accelerates toward Hayes twice before a verbal exchange between both DeBoer and Hayes. Then the WSAO said Hayes struck DeBoer’s vehicle before being shot once through the passenger-side window.

(Warning: this video contains graphic content. Portions of the audio have been muted.)

Prosecutors said in the statement blood evidence and bullet trajectory supported DeBoer’s version that Hayes was leaning toward the vehicle in an “aggressive stance” when the shot was fired.

Bradshaw said DeBoer escalated the encounter by following Hayes off the main road. “It’s astonishing that no homicide charge has been filed,” he said.

DeBoer, 63, admitted to shooting Hayes and burying the weapon. He was arrested in December 2024, but in January 2025, Wasatch County Sheriff Rigby announced his office would not seek a homicide charge, citing insufficient evidence.

In a recently unsealed search warrant, DeBoer’s brother described Greg as “very irritable,” with “no sense of shame, guilt, remorse, or empathy.”

Fourth District Judge Jennifer Mabey ruled earlier this month that the obstruction of justice charge could proceed to trial.

Read the Wasatch County Attorney’s Office Statement on Charging Decision in full.