ST. GEORGE, Utah — A couple was located and arrested in Washington state Thursday, and is facing charges related to the homicide of a two-year-old boy in June.
Gavin Michael Haar, 25, and Brittany Juanita Hall, 25, were located in Gold Bar, Washington, Thursday afternoon. Haar had a felony warrant for first-degree murder and child abuse out of Iron County, and Hall had a warrant for second-degree child abuse, obstruction of justice and child abuse.
Hall and Haar were located by the Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force after investigators learned that the two were hiding in a Gold Bar residence.
According to court documents released in Iron County, on June 12, Hall was working the graveyard shift at Lin’s Grocery Store in Cedar City, when she received a text message at 12:36 a.m. stating, “Get home now. Emergency [child victim] not breathing,” from Haar.
Shortly after sending the first text message, Haar also wrote, “Anyone ask about the bruises we got them four wheeling,” the court documents said. He then allegedly texted Hall, “I’m calling the cops.”
Law enforcement officials and paramedics responded to the home Haar and Hall were staying at and found a two-year-old victim who was not breathing, the documents stated. After attempting to revive the child, paramedics pronounced him dead.
The Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy of the child and determined the cause of his death was a homicide, the documents state. The Medical Examiner stated that the child died from blunt force injuries to the abdomen, resulting in “mesenteric contusions and lacerations.” The child also had numerous bruises all over his body, police said.
While at the hospital, both Haar and Hall allegedly told investigators that the child had suffered his injuries when a four-wheeler rolled onto him while the three were camping. However, during the course of the investigation, court documents state that police learned that Hall was working the night the three were allegedly camping.
When Hall was confronted by investigators about the inconsistency in her story, she allegedly said, “It’s him if he is telling me. I’m not the one coming up with it; he is
telling me what is going on.”
Based on evidence gathered by investigators, Haar was charged with first-degree murder. The two were taken into custody without incident and booked into Snohomish County Jail.
