Utah
Man ordered to stand trial for murder in deaths of Utah toddlers playing in a corral – East Idaho News
PROVO, Utah (KSL.com) — A 4th District judge on Monday ordered Kent Cody Barlow, a man charged with causing the deaths of two Eagle Mountain toddlers, to stand trial for two counts of murder.
Two 3-year-old boys, Odin Jeffrey Ratliff and Hunter Charlie Jackson, were playing a horse corral and were killed when a car left the road and veered into Cedar Valley Stables on May 2, 2022.
RELATED | Judge orders Utah man to stand trial in crash that killed 2 boys playing in corral
Judge Robert Lund ordered Barlow to stand trial for two counts of depraved indifference murder, a first-degree felony, and one count of possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. Lund said during a hearing on Friday that because of the significance of the case, he would issue a written rather than oral decision.
Barlow, 28, was initially charged with two counts of manslaughter rather than murder and was ordered to stand trial on those charges on July 28, 2022, by Lund. Several months later on March 13, 2023, prosecutors amended the charges, enhancing manslaughter to murder, a first-degree felony.
RELATED | Utah man charged with hitting, killing 2 boys playing in corral; prosecutor says no plea bargains
‘Depraved indifference’
Before deciding whether there was sufficient evidence to order Barlow to stand trial on the upgraded charges, Lund listened to evidence during four days throughout February and March. He also reviewed written arguments and listened to attorneys during a hearing on Friday.
Deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride argued Barlow’s actions meet the requirements for “depraved indifference murder.”
Benjamin Aldana, Barlow’s attorney, said the law for depraved indifference requires an action to be “specifically directed” at the person who is killed, and Barlow wasn’t aware of the toddlers. He said if someone had been visible, or if there was a home there instead of stables, maybe the depraved indifference statute would apply.
“That statute doesn’t apply here,” he said.
Lund’s decision says at 7:16 p.m. on May 2, 2022, Barlow lost control of his car and crashed it into Cedar Valley Stables. Lund says there were “at least 20 people” at the facility, mostly children learning to ride horses, and the facility is visible from several miles away.
“The single-car accident created a large debris field. Before colliding with the covered horse stalls, the car passed through multiple layers of fencing. … The car hit the structure with such force that it tore all the supporting beams out of the ground. With no support, the roof on the structure collapsed,” the order said.
It said the stable’s roof collapse killed both boys.
Three others who were in the car with Barlow testified that he was driving at a high rate of speed and ran a stop sign.
“All of them told (Barlow) multiple times to slow down. (He) ignored their pleas,” the order says.
It said GPS data from one of the passengers’ phones shows Barlow accelerated to 123 mph immediately before the crash and left the road traveling at 117 mph — the speed limit is 45 mph.
“(Barlow) took no precautions to minimize the risks that his driving posed to other people. To the contrary, his failure to heed the demands of his passengers to slow down and obey traffic laws together with his ingestion of a powerful mind-altering drug exacerbated the risks his behavior posed to others,” the order says.
It said a blood draw at the hospital showed Barlow had consumed “a large amount of methamphetamine” at some point before the crash.
Shortly before the crash, Barlow had been doing doughnuts in a field next to a baseball practice, a coach testified, and caused concern that he might hit someone. Other drivers also reported seeing a car move very quickly.
Lund’s order said Barlow “created a highly likely probability” of death.
The law for depraved indifference murder was modified two days after the crash that killed the two toddlers, changing the definition from causing “the death of another” to causing “the death of the other individual.”
Aldana has claimed this change created a new defense, but Lund said he finds the earlier version of the statute applies because the amendment was not made retroactive to incidents that happened before the law was changed.
Motion to disqualify Lund
On Sunday, ahead of the decision to order Barlow to stand trial, Aldana filed a motion asking Lund to recuse himself from the case. He said Lund’s insistence on holding the trial for Barlow in September shows he is not impartial, as Aldana contends he may not have enough time to prepare Barlow’s defense.
Lund set the trial in September before knowing whether the trial would be for manslaughter or murder, while the preliminary hearing was scheduled for January, the motion said. The January hearing was delayed to February and March after Aldana tested positive for COVID-19. It wasn’t until Monday that Barlow and his attorney learned whether the trial would be for manslaughter or murder, Aldana said.
When Aldana said Friday that there might not be time to prepare for the trial by September, Lund said he has known about the trial for a while. He told Aldana the trial dates were “firm.”
Aldana’s motion said the case history shows Lund “holds a bias against Mr. Barlow” and his defense team.
“The fact that the court has repeatedly required that a trial setting be in place for this case … says something,” he said.
Aldana said requiring a case to go to trial four months after Barlow was ordered to stand trial will negate his right to a fair trial in the double-murder case.
This is the second time Aldana has made a request for the judge to recuse himself in this case.
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The family of an aunt and her niece who were found dead on a Utah trail earlier this week said Friday that they can’t comprehend why the women were slain in a pair of killings allegedly committed by a stranger in search of money.
In a statement, a family spokesperson for Linda Dewey, 65, and Natalie Graves, 34, said the women were “bonding over the beauty of a hike in one of their favorite places on Earth — cherished by them and the community, considered to be a safe sanctuary.”
“They were murdered,” the spokesperson said. “We cannot comprehend why this happened.”
Authorities have charged Ivan Miller, 22, with aggravated murder in their deaths Wednesday. He was charged with the same crime in the fatal shooting of Margaret Oldroyd, 86, who is not related to Dewey or Graves. Oldroyd’s relatives could not be reached for comment Friday.
The bodies of the three women were found at two locations in South Central Utah.
Charging documents filed Thursday in Utah allege that Miller, of Blakesburg, Iowa, confessed to the killings. He allegedly told authorities that “he did it because he needed money” after hitting an elk in Loa, Utah, selling his truck to a local tow company and staying at a hotel for a few days, according to the documents.
Miller said he shot Oldroyd in the head as she sat down to watch TV in her home in Lyman, then took her Buick but realized he didn’t like the car, the documents allege. He drove to a nearby trail, where he encountered Graves and Dewey and shot them, the documents allege.
Miller allegedly said he stabbed Dewey when she continued to move.
He abandoned the Buick, according to the documents, and took a Subaru that belonged to Dewey or Graves. The husbands of Dewey and Graves later found their bodies near a trail head and called authorities, according to the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Miller was arrested hundreds of miles east, in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, after authorities tracked the location of a stolen key fob, the documents state.
Scott Van Zandt, a public defender representing Miller, said during a court hearing Friday that his client does not want to speak to police or media, the Associated Press reported.
A representative for the Colorado State Public Defender did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment Friday night.
In the family statement, Dewey was described as a wife, mother, grandmother and sister with a large extended family all over the world.
“She was loved deeply and loved her family deeply,” the statement says. “She was the heart of our family.”
Graves, a wife, daughter and sister, was “adored by her many friends and extended family members. She was joy, sunshine and beauty embodied.”
“We need time to mourn, love each other and be with our family and friends,” the statement says. “We are at a loss for words that can describe what we are feeling and cannot publicly express our sadness and devastation at this time.”
Southern Utah shipment is part of the faith’s yearlong celebration of the Declaration of Independence.
(Mark Eddington | The Salt Lake Tribune) Movers load part of a donation of 20,000 pounds of food to Switchpoint’s St. George food pantry by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday, March 5, 2026.
Schmaltz’s 24 goals this season are a new career-high. He’s been a consistently strong presence and has taken on more responsibility with the switch from wing to center. His goal on the power play came just eight seconds into the man-advantage and opened the scoring early in the second period. In addition to his goal, he had an assist on Utah’s second goal of the game. Tourigny discussed Schmaltz’s maturity following the win.
“He’s a mature person, mature man,” Tourigny explained. “He really wants to make a difference. I always say about Schmaltz, (he’s) a gamer. He wants to play in those moments, and I think he’s excited about where our team is at, and he wants to be a big part of it, and he is. He’s a huge leader for us.”
Utah held Philadelphia to 16 total shots: four in the first period, seven in the second, and five in the third. The Mammoth showed their strong defensive game in the win.
“I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we’re defending hard,” Schmaltz said. “We’re playing with a lot of pace, not giving them time and space, frustrating them, and making them force plays, and then we turn it over and go the other way.”
On the flip side, against a stingy Philadelphia defense, Utah generated 23 shots including 14 in the second period. Schmaltz spoke to what led to the increased opportunities in the middle frame.
“A little bit more direct,” Schmaltz shared. “I think our transition game was really good. We were catching them, kind of hemming them in. Good line changes and just rolling them over and shooting a little bit more.”
In addition to Schmaltz’s goal, Captain Clayton Keller scored his 19th of the season seven and half minutes after his linemate’s tally to increase the score to 2-0. Michael Carcone’s empty net goal with 1:48 left in regulation secured the 3-0 win.
Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)
- The Mammoth’s power play went 1-for-2 against the Flyers. Utah has scored seven power play goals in seven games (7-for-18, 38.9%). On the other side of special teams, the Mammoth’s penalty kill went 3-for-3.
- JJ Peterka played his 300th NHL game. Peterka was selected 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft and is the ninth player from his draft class to reach the milestone. He is also just the eighth German-born forward in NHL history to accomplish the feat.
- Keller has recorded 11 points in his last seven games (2/2-3/5: 3g, 8a), finding the scoresheet in six of those contests.
- With two assists tonight, Dylan Guenther has posted his second straight multi-point outing (3/3 at WSH: 1g, 1a) and his third in five games (2/25 vs. COL: 2g).
Utah has won the first two games of a five-game road trip. Up next, the Mammoth travel to Columbus and face the Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
Upcoming Schedule
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