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Man guilty of crashing car into boys playing with toy trucks

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:23:33 +0000

Inset: Hunter Jackson, left, and Odin Ratliff (Utah County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Kent Barlow (KSL/YouTube).

A Utah jury determined a 28-year-old man acted with “depraved indifference” when he drove 120 mph while high on methamphetamine and plowed through horse stables where he hit and killed two toddlers who were playing with toy trucks.

Kent Cody Barlow was convicted Friday of depraved indifference homicide in the deaths of 3-year-olds Odin Ratliff and Hunter Jackson. Barlow on May 2, 2022, was driving recklessly and ignoring his passengers’ repeated pleas for him to slow down as he was sped along Tiffany Lane in Eagle Mountain, which is about 30 miles northwest of Provo. He lost control and crashed into the Cedar Valley Stables, the Utah County Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Michael Starrs, deputy Utah County attorney, told jurors in his closing argument the boys were having a great time playing with each other, picking up chicken eggs and chasing cats, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate KSL. But that fun turned into tragedy when Barlow floored the accelerator, traveling 120 mph in a 45 mph zone and headed toward the stables despite seeing all the activity there.

“The signs of life were there,” Starrs said. “The signs of life were ignored. The signs of life were obvious. They weren’t hidden, they weren’t concealed. We know that Kent Barlow would have seen all those cars.”

Prosecutors also pointed out he had previously been convicted of driving over 100 mph some three years before the fatal crash and ignored a judge’s warning that his speeding could prove deadly.

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Infant murdered by dad who claimed he was ‘playing’ with her

homesafetytechpros — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 13:53:15 +0000

Khaliq Woods (Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office).

A Georgia man “violently squeezed” his daughter to death and then tried passing off her injuries as a result of the two of them “playing” together, telling authorities he was “tossing her in the air and catching her.”

Khaliq Woods, 29, was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated battery and first-degree child cruelty for the 2019 death of his infant daughter, Kamila Woods, at their home in Duluth, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

Prosecutors outlined the case against Woods in a press release Tuesday, announcing that he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Jurors deliberated for 10 hours before finding him guilty.

“We grieve with the family of the deceased child Kamila Woods,” Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “This is a tragedy that an infant’s life was taken,” the DA added.

According to prosecutors, Woods, who was 23 years old at the time brought Kamila to Northside Duluth Medical Center himself on the morning of Nov. 30, 2019. Kamila was pronounced dead upon arrival.

“Kamila’s mother had dropped her off at Woods’ apartment the previous day,” the DA’s office explained Tuesday. “Woods told police that he had been playing with the infant that evening, tossing her in the air and catching her. He said on one of those catches, he felt the infant’s side go in, and he heard wheezing. He put her to bed around 10 p.m., that evening, and went back to check on her around 2 a.m.”

Woods told police that Kamila had not moved from her position, and that she was also refusing to take a bottle or pacifier. He claimed he checked on her again at around 6 a.m. before ordering a ride-share to take her to the hospital.

“A search warrant of Woods’ phone revealed that around 2 am, he searched for ‘symptoms of broken ribs in children’ on the internet no less than 9 times,” according to the DA’s office.

“The autopsy conducted on Kamila showed that she had suffered multiple rib fractures, a lacerated liver, and bleeding and swelling of the brain,” prosecutors said. “Evidence introduced at trial showed that Kamila’s injuries were consistent with being violently squeezed and shaken.”

DA Austin-Gatson added, “We pray that the outcome of this trial will help Kamila’s family heal.”

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Kids playing ‘ding-dong ditch’ shot at, held at gunpoint

homesafetytechpros — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 13:47:30 +0000

Melvin Rankin (Missouri State Highway Patrol).

A Missouri man on lifetime GPS monitoring shot at four kids who knocked at his door while playing “ding-dong ditch” and chased them down in a vehicle before ordering them out of their car at gunpoint and stealing their car keys, police said.

Melvin Rankin, 40, faces charges of unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action, and robbery. A probable cause statement spells out the allegations from Sunday in Springfield, Missouri.

One alleged victim told police the group had gone to IHOP to eat and then decided to “ding-dong ditch” the area of Edgewood Street. At one home, they rang the doorbell, and saw a man, later identified as Rankin, look out a window, the document said.

More Law&Crime coverage: Upset over ‘ding dong ditch’ game, man allegedly choked, tried to run over teens who played prank on his home

When they rang the doorbell again, the garage opened, and they heard a gunshot from inside the garage, according to the document. They ran to their vehicle and drove off but were followed by Rankin in a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, the probable cause statement said.

At a dead-end road, Rankin pulled up next to the victims, pointed a sawed-off shotgun with a pistol grip at them, and then demanded they get out of their car and lie on the ground, the document said. The victims did as they were told.

At one point, Rankin allegedly placed the gun to the back of the head of one victim on the ground and asked, “Who sent you?” and “Where’s the gun?”

The victims told the suspect they were just kids and apologized for playing “ding-dong ditch,” the document said.

More Law&Crime coverage: ‘Extremely mad’ driver who chased car full of teens at 99 mph over ‘ding dong ditch’ prank convicted of triple murder

Rankin then demanded their car keys, which he took and drove off in his Jeep, the statement said.

Police quickly located Rankin, pulled him over in a traffic stop as he drove his Jeep and arrested him, the document said.

At Rankin’s home, police found a single-shot, 20-gauge shotgun in the garage, wrapped in a towel in a drawer, according to the document. The shotgun’s stock was wooden and appeared homemade, crafted to where someone would hold it with their hand when firing, the statement said.

Rankin is a registered sex offender on lifetime GPS monitoring for a first-degree statutory rape conviction, the document said. He has a history of failing to report as a sex offender and failing to appear for court dates, according to the document. He also has convictions for breaking and entering, possession of a controlled substance, and driving while revoked, the statement said. Police said he is an admitted Crips gang member and has tattoos on his forearms displaying his gang affiliation, according to the document.

He is being held at the Greene County Jail with a bond review hearing set for Tuesday, online court records show.

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