NC National Guard soldier, Rhett Barlow, is charged in murder-for-hire plot after ‘paying a hitman to murder truck driver’ who rear-ended his mom and killed her eight years ago

A National Guardsman is accused of hiring a hitman to take revenge on the truck driver who killed his mother in a horror accident.

Rhett Michael Barlow, 22, was just 14 when his mother Michelle, 42, was crushed between two trucks when she was hit from behind on March 22, 2016.

The driver, Donald Wayne Caulder Jr., was charged only with criminal homicide and failure to reduce vehicle speed, but escaped with only 12 months’ probation.

Michelle’s husband, a preacher in training, publicly forgave the driver at her funeral, but his son, who stood next to him during the service, reportedly didn’t feel the same way.

Michelle Barlow, an English teacher at Wake Forest High School, died when a dump truck rear-ended her at a stoplight while she was towing a bobcat, crushing her against another truck.

Barlow was arrested at Fort Liberty, a North Carolina National Guard base 70 miles from his home in Raleigh, after the would-be assassin turned him in.

Barlow was arrested at Fort Liberty, a North Carolina National Guard base 70 miles from his home in Raleigh, after the would-be assassin turned him in.

He was charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and was held in the Wake County Detention Center on a $1 million bond.

Prosecutors alleged he tried to provoke the killing on Nov. 28 and bought an AR-15 Springfield rifle and a second handgun the same day.

“Oh, to be young, naive and innocent of the depravity of the human soul in the modern world,” he wrote on Facebook last August.

The man who allegedly asked Barlow to kill Caulder in Wake Forrest will not be charged because he contacted police to report the incident.

Michelle, an English teacher at Wake Forest High School, died when Caulder’s dump truck rear-ended her at a traffic light while she was towing a bobcat.

The force of the impact, which investigators believed was caused by fatigue or distraction, crushed her Toyota Sienna minivan into another truck in front of her.

The force of the crash, which investigators believed was caused by fatigue or distraction, crushed Michelle’s Toyota Sienna minivan into another truck in front of her.

The driver, Donald Wayne Caulder Jr., was only charged with criminal homicide and failure to reduce speed with a vehicle. He escaped with only 12 months probation

Several drivers called 911 in the two hours before the crash to report that Caulder’s truck was driving recklessly and “highly intoxicated” on the highway.

‘He’s probably gone off the road a dozen times in the last three miles. You need to get someone in here before he hits someone,” someone said.

Another said, “He’s going to Raleigh, so can you get me someone here? He’s going to kill someone.’

Caulder tested negative for all substances after the crash. He pleaded guilty ten months later and did not spend a day in jail.

Michelle’s husband Michael, then a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, forgave Caulder when he delivered the funeral oration.

“Donald, what I can say with complete honesty and sincerity from the bottom of my heart is: I forgive you,” he said.

Michelle’s husband Michael, then a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, forgave Caulder as he delivered the funeral sermon – with his son at his side.

Barlow stood next to his father as he said these words, but almost eight years later he would not have taken them to heart.

The family received $355,325 in compensation from the school system when Michelle was returning from a work meeting when she died.

Barlow was ordered to undergo a mental health assessment and will appear in court on January 29.

He is a member of the 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and joined the North Carolina National Guard in 2019.