WAKE FOREST, NC – Rhett Michael Barlow of Raleigh, North Carolina, has been arrested for allegedly soliciting a hit man to kill the driver responsible for his mother’s death in a 2016 traffic accident. Wake Forest Police Department reported the arrest on Saturday, charging Barlow, 22, with soliciting to commit first-degree murder. He is currently held at Wake Forest Jail on a $1 million bond.
The target of the alleged murder plot was Donald Caulder Jr., who was involved in a crash that resulted in the death of Barlow’s mother, Michelle Barlow. On March 22, 2016, Caulder, driving a work dump truck, rear-ended Michelle Barlow’s Toyota Sienna van, which was stopped in traffic. The impact of the collision sandwiched the van between the dump truck and another vehicle.
Caulder, then 29, was charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to reduce speed. He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor death by vehicle charge in 2017 and received a sentence of 75 days in jail with a suspended license.
Michelle Barlow’s estate filed a lawsuit against Caulder and his employer, Arbormax Tree Service LLC. The company and its insurer eventually agreed to pay the estate approximately $285,000 in installments over several years. The lawsuit against Caulder was subsequently withdrawn.
