Local N ews Jury trial set in 2026 in murder case
A trial date for Derrick Curry, who is charged with first-degree murder, is set for Feb. 3-12, 2026.
That setting was made on Wednesday in Labette County District Court.
Curry’s trial has been postponed several times due to various delays and motions. The Parsons man, a transplant from Louisiana, waived his right to a speedy trial as well because of the extended delay for the trial setting.
A prosecutor for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office told Judge Steve A. Stockard that she was ready for trial earlier, but Curry’s defense attorney, Cline Boone, indicated he wasn’t available until after the holidays.
Judge Stockard also set a motions hearing for Sept. 8 and a pre-trial date for Jan. 23, 2026.
Curry and counsel appeared via Zoom on Wednesday.
Curry, 55, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the 2023 death of 28-yearold Kylie Caldwell. Curry is also charged with aggravated criminal sodomy, or in the alternative, aggravated sexual battery. The murder charge is an off-grid felony punishable by life in prison with a chance of having to serve 50 years before he would be considered for parole.
Caldwell’s body was found on Sept. 24, 2023, south of Parsons. According to testimony at Curry’s preliminary hearing, Caldwell had been beaten, sodomized and strangled.
On Sept. 25, 2023, a day after Caldwell’s body was found, law enforcement arrived at Mendota Creek Apartments, where Caldwell was last seen, to conduct a neighborhood canvass. He was arrested that day and remains jailed.
