Son tried hiring someone to kill driver in mom’s crash: Officials
- A National Guardsman was arrested; police say he tried hiring hitman
- Police: Suspect targeted man involved in mother's fatal crash
- Rhett Barlow of Raleigh, North Carolina, is being held on $1 million bond
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(NewsNation) — A National Guardsman from North Carolina has been charged with trying to hire someone to kill a driver involved in a traffic accident his mom died from.
Rhett Barlow of Raleigh was only 14 years old when his mother was killed in a March 2016 crash. The driver, Donald Caulder Jr., rear-ended Michelle Simone Barlow’s vehicle with his Freightliner dump truck, The News & Observer reports.
Michelle Barlow’s minivan was then pushed into the back of a tractor-trailer driven by another man. Her minivan was crushed, and the dump truck “came to rest partly on top of it,” the newspaper wrote.
Caulder was charged with misdemeanor death and failing to reduce speed. He was given 12 months of probation.
Eight years later, Barlow was arrested at Fort Liberty on Jan. 6 “for soliciting to commit the first-degree murder” of Caulder, Wake Forest police said in a news release.
An arrest warrant issued on Jan. 5 obtained by the New York Post says Barlow tried to hire a hitman on Nov. 28, 2023, to kill Caulder. That same day, Barlow bought an AR-15 Springfield rifle and a second gun and requested to be transferred with the Army to a post closer to Caulder.
Barlow is being held at Wake County Detention Center on a $1 million bond. He is set to undergo a mental health assessment.
Meanwhile, the man Barlow attempted to hire will not be charged since he reported him to the police.