PROVO, Utah — New details on the tragic deaths of two 3-year-old boys mowed down by a man accused of driving high on methamphetamine in Eagle Mountain was discussed during a preliminary hearing Wednesday.
Hunter Jackson and Odin Ratliff were playing in a corral when a car driven by Kent Cody Barlow crashed through a fence, killing the two toddlers in May 2022.
Barlow was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession or use of a controlled substance after initially being charged with manslaughter.
"So far, the most emotional part for me was when they had the witness that found the pipe," said Hunter's mom, Brooke Jackson.
Jackson said the discovery of evidence happened the day after Hunter's funeral.
"Just had rakes and shovels and going through horse manure, picking up glass and came across the pipe," explained the man who found it during the hearing in a Provo courtroom.
It was also revealed that during the process of forensic collection there was a mistake on how the discovered pipe was handled.
"I put it on top of the packaging itself and photographed it," explained the forensic technician with the Utah County Sheriff's Office. "By doing that I introduced contamination or possible contamination to the pipe."
Law enforcement also explained that Barlow's car did not hit the two boys directly. Instead, the vehicle hit the corral they were playing in and the roof collapse was what delivered the fatal blow.
"There was so much damage to it — it was upside down — you couldn't even determine where the initial impact areas were of the vehicle," said the witness.
Jackson said those specifics don't matter.
"This only happened because of Kent Barlow's choices. That's all that matters," she said. "Hunter and Odin would both still be here. They'd both be five and they're not here."
