[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A trip to the horse stable turned deadly on Monday when two Utah toddlers were instantly killed by a speeding car that slammed into them while they were playing together in a corral.
According to a statement from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Kent Cody Barlow was arrested and charged after crashing his car at Cedar Valley Stables in Eagle Mountain just before 7:20 p.m.. The 25-year-old was allegedly traveling faster than 100 miles per hour when the car left the roadway, hitting 3-year-olds Odin Ratliff and Hunter Jackson, who happened to be at that moment playing with toy trucks in the dirt.
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The impact was brutal, as the statement explained:
“Both boys were run over and ended up 75 feet from where they were playing.”
Absolutely devastating.
Barlow is alleged to have been under the influence of methamphetamines at the time of the deadly incident. Witnesses told responding officers the car had been moving recklessly across the road, weaving in and out of oncoming traffic.
After running a stop sign, “the car went off the paved road to the right, shattered a vinyl rail fence, smashed through a five rail steel pole fence, smashed through another section of that same steel pole fence, then crashed through a fence panel corral, then hit a large cement block anchored in the ground, launched into the air, and then into a lean-to style set of horse stables, coming to a stop upside down,” according to the statement.
The statement added:
“From where the car first left the pavement, to where it came to rest, was about 345 feet. The car was completely destroyed in the crash.”
Shockingly, Barlow and three passengers also in the car were treated and released for just minor injuries sustained in the crash. The passengers are not facing criminal charges.
Barlow, however, has been charged with two counts of second-degree automobile homicide/driving under the influence with criminal negligence, two counts of driving while under the influence with personal injury, and individual counts of third-degree possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving, running a stop sign, and speeding. He’s being held without bail.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched online to help cover the boys’ funeral expenses. The campaign described the tots as “best friends” who died while “playing, innocently, in the sand with their toy trucks.” It noted:
“The stables have always been a second home to these boys.”
Such an unimaginable loss. Our hearts go out to the victims’ families.
[Image via Utah County Sheriff’s Office/Salt Lake Sheriff/GoFundMe]
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