Man will not be charged after his girlfriend was killed in a locked warehouse fire in Murray

According to District Attorney Sim Gill, the incident could simply have been “an accidental, tragic loss of life.”

A little more than a year after Morgan Kay Harris was killed after her boyfriend allegedly locked her and her dog in a burning storage unit in Murray, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office announced that no charges will be filed against the man in her death.

On Friday, District Attorney Sim Gill shared the results of his office’s investigation into Harris’ Feb. 18, 2023 death, saying the evidence does not indicate that her boyfriend, Alexander Paul Wardell, set fire to the storage unit while his girlfriend was locked inside and that the cause of the fire is unclear.

Gill continued that an investigation that cost $100,000 could not determine Harris’ cause of death.

“Given the evidence before us, this office cannot in good conscience file charges against Mr. Wardell,” Gill said.

Wardell was immediately arrested for involuntary manslaughter and kidnapping after the incident, but was never charged in Harris’ death. He is serving a prison sentence on several domestic violence charges unrelated to his ex-girlfriend.

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