A Utah man accused of fatally shooting his mother and stepfather and photographing their bodies before covering them with blankets is moving closer to trial more than three years after the alleged killings.
Tryston Erickson, 30, faces a string of serious charges in connection with the deaths of his mother, Jeannie Parker, 50, and stepfather, Timothy Parker, 58, whose bodies were discovered inside their Spanish Fork, Utah, home on March 14, 2023. Police had been called to conduct a welfare check after the couple failed to show up for work for several days.
Officers found both victims partially covered with blankets in a basement bedroom. Both had died of gunshot wounds. Inside the home, investigators uncovered roughly two dozen firearms, bullet casings, bullet holes in the walls, and blood on the staircase leading to the basement.
Charging documents noted that “efforts had been made to clean up the scene,” including blood cleanup and the removal of bloodstained clothing found in the laundry. Erickson, who lived with the couple, was nowhere to be found. Neither was Jeannie Parker’s Hyundai Elantra a car he was not permitted to drive.
Her phone was tracked to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and Erickson was eventually located in Grand County, Colorado, where he was apprehended following a high-speed chase while behind the wheel of his mother’s vehicle. During police interviews, Erickson initially claimed he had last seen the Parkers on March 13, when they shared dinner together.
He later admitted to stealing both the car and the phone. When asked why he fled to Colorado, he allegedly told investigators, “I knew I was going to jail anyway, and I thought I would have a little fun.” A search of Erickson’s phone revealed photographs of the Parkers’ bodies, timestamped March 12, 2023, a day before he claimed to have last seen them.
Neighbors recalled seeing Erickson outside the home smoking a cigarette that same day. Authorities also recovered firearms and bank cards belonging to other family members. Colleagues of Timothy Parker told police he had reportedly been attempting to evict Erickson from the home in the period leading up to his death.
Erickson faces two counts of aggravated murder, along with charges of obstruction of justice, theft, abuse or desecration of a human body, three weapons-related offenses, and unlawful possession of a financial card.
His trial was delayed in early 2024 after a motion was filed to assess his competency to stand trial. Following a series of hearings, he was declared competent in December 2025. A judge subsequently ruled in May that sufficient evidence exists to proceed with a double murder trial.
Erickson remains in custody and is scheduled for arraignment on June 10.