SALT LAKE CITY — Christian Hayes shared his bittersweet emotions Tuesday after police arrested the man accused of killing his father, Patrick Hayes, during a road rage incident at Jordanelle State Park in September.
“The hardest thing is he’s not coming back,” Hayes said of 62-year-old Greg Kyle DeBoer, who was arrested on Monday. “Like, no matter what happens, my dad’s gone — that’s kind of the fact of everything, and that’s terrible. But at least, you know, this guy’s hopefully going to pay for what he did.”
The timing of the arrest — just a day before Christmas Eve — was especially poignant for Hayes. “Christmas Eve was our day,” he explained. “In a weird way though, it’s almost poetic. This guy was caught yesterday, you know, and so he’s not at home for Christmas Eve.”
The loss has been devastating for Hayes, who reflected on the impact his father had on so many lives. Patrick L. Hayes, 61, was a former NCAA All-American swimmer and water polo player who continued to mentor athletes throughout his life.
“He was larger than life,” his son said. “He was always joking, always laughing, always smiling.”
Christian Hayes himself played water polo, a sport his father passionately supported. “I don’t think he ever missed a game, you know,” Hayes shared. “He was just always present.”
According to investigators, surveillance footage from Sept. 25 showed DeBoer’s Jeep Gladiator following Patrick Hayes’ vehicle to the Ross Creek entrance of Jordanelle State Park. Footage captured Patrick Hayes exiting his vehicle and standing near DeBoer’s Jeep when he was shot. The driver of the Jeep then drove away.
DeBoer admitted to the shooting, according to court documents, but claimed it was in self-defense — a claim Christian Hayes struggles to accept.
“I can understand self-defense in the sense of protecting yourself, but that kind of goes out the window, in my opinion, when you follow somebody,” he said.
DeBoer was arrested Monday for investigation of obstruction of justice. Police say he didn’t call 911 after the shooting and buried the gun he used near his home.
Patrick Hayes is survived by his son Christian, his fiancée Sue Ann Kern, her daughters Sam and Jess, and a loving extended family.
Christian Hayes told KSL he draws strength from his father’s legacy and the outpouring of love from friends and family.
“He impacted so many people. … He’s left a really big kind of hole in our hearts,” he said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
