No charges filed against man whose girlfriend died in storage unit fire

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday that no charges will be filed against Alexander Wardell whose girlfriend, Morgan Kay Harris, died in a storage unit fire in Murray a year ago.

Wardell was arrested following the Feb. 18, 2023 incident for negligent homicide and kidnapping after allegedly locking Harris in a burning storage unit, but he was never charged in her death.

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

Harris was found dead following a fire that was sparked inside the storage unit she was locked in with her dog. Gill said the cause of the fire had been ruled as undetermined.

Investigators said the fire could have been started from smoking cigarettes or a lit candle. It was deemed to be “not likely” that Wardell intentionally set the fire.

Gill said the investigation found that the fire was most likely six minutes to 15 minutes long, while Wardell had left the unit for 22 minutes, making it unlikely he started the fire before leaving the unit.

Wardell admitted to police that he had left Harris in the unit to go get food, placing a lock on the door before leaving, and that Harris was “groggy” from some medication she was taking. When he came back, Gill said Wardell ran to the storage unit as firefighters were responding to put out the fire, yelling that his girlfriend was in the unit. Wardell then used a key to unlock the unit where Harris was, which investigators determined was the origin of the fire.

Re-creations of the fire were made through engineers at the ATF Fire Research Laboratory in Maryland, Gill said, noting they showed the damage in the unit was inconsistent with what it would’ve been if Wardell had set the fire.

“This is a tragic loss of life, but one where we do not have a basis to file criminal charges and meet our burden of proof. Our hearts go out to the family of Ms. Harris for this tragic loss. This office turned every stone to make sure Ms. Harris’ memory was served with our best effort,” Gill said.

Morgan Kay Harris’ mother speaks out

Laurice Williamson said her daughter gave the longest hugs — almost too long — and loved people in a special way.

“I would go to pull away and she would just pull closer,” said Laurice.

Laurice has been waiting for this moment for over a year, preparing herself for every possible scenario. The worst case scenario, she thought, was that Wardell would just be charged with kidnapping. She never imagined he would walk.

“(Wardell has) changed his story a lot. I know that he’s a vile person. I know that he’s a violent person. I know that he has hurt women before,” said Laurice. “I can’t know if he murdered her. And that’s hard. The unknowns are hard. To just wrap your head around.”

Laurice said she does know two things. One — Wardell locked her daughter in that storage unit. Two — Judge Richard McKelvie should have locked Wardell up a long time ago.

The Justice Files uncovered Wardell had been convicted of multiple crimes, including assault for stabbing a different girlfriend, and that he had violated his probation at least 18 times.

Wardell had also been arrested several times, with Adult Probation and Parole requesting his probation be terminated and Wardell go to prison, but Judge McKelvie dismissed the request on five different occasions.

“He just kept proving that he couldn’t be trusted and wasn’t a safe person. And Judge McKelvie was the person who could have changed all of it,” said Laurice.

Wardell is currently in prison for violating his probation, among other issues. He has a review scheduled with the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in July.

The full announcement from DA Sim Gill can be viewed below.

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