Rhett Barlow: Raleigh man solicited hitman to murder driver who fatally struck his mother in 2016 crash

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: A man in Raleigh, North Carolina is behind bars after he allegedly solicited a hitman to murder the driver who fatally struck his mother in a 2016 crash.

The Wake Forest Police Department on Saturday, January 6, arrested Rhett Michael Barlow, of Raleigh, on a charge of soliciting to commit first-degree murder. Cops took 22-year-old Barlow to the Wake Forest Jail where he remains on a $1 million bond.

Rhett Barlow tried to have Donald Caulder Jr killed

Police said Barlow tried to have Donald Caulder Jr killed. As per Law and Crime, police did not release further details about the alleged plot, saying the investigation continues and more information will be released as it becomes available.

Michelle Barlow's Toyota Sienna van was halted in front of Caulder's work dump truck on March 22, 2016, according to a report at the time from ABC affiliate WTVD.

The van collided with another car and the dump truck. According to court documents, prosecutors charged Caulder who was 29 that time with misdemeanours of failure to moderate speed and death by vehicle.

According to the documents, Caulder admitted guilt in 2017 to the misdemeanour of death by car. He received a sentence of 75 days in jail as well as a suspension of his licence.

Additionally, as per Herald Sun, according to court documents, Caulder's employer, Arbormax Tree Service LLC, was sued by Michelle Barlow's estate. Records indicate that Arbormax and its insurer agreed to pay the estate around $285,000 in installments over a number of years. Caulder was also the target of a withdrawn lawsuit.

'Her desire was to meet each student’s needs'

Michelle Barlow’s obituary said she was a teacher at Wake County Public School School. She was returning from a teacher’s workshop when she died in the accident.

“Her love for teaching, though great as it was, would always be second to the love she had for the students themselves,” the obituary said.

“Her desire was to meet each student’s needs right where they were while always placing the greater value on the heart of the student and the development of their truest potential.”