The terrifying final reports of a young woman shot dead by her best friend in what she thought was a suicide pact have emerged – after her friend confessed to the murder.
Heavenly Faith Garfield, 22, shot Brooklyn Barrett, 21, after weeks of planning their deaths together in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Barrett appeared to speak cryptically about the plan in a series of Facebook posts the day before her death.
“Sunflowers look at the sun,” she wrote. “If they can’t find the sun, they turn to each other.”
Garfield pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to manslaughter after admitting shooting her friend in the head with a dumdum bullet before withdrawing from the plot.
Brooklyn Barrett, 21, died in April of a gunshot wound to the head in what she thought was a suicide pact with her boyfriend Heavenly Faith Garfield, 22.
Garfield admitted manslaughter after shooting her friend and withdrawing from the plot
Police called to the East Propeller Street home on April 30 found the young childcare worker dead on a bed of flowers with an “obvious gunshot wound to the head.”
Officers found an unloaded Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm handgun on a nightstand next to the bed and a spent shell casing next to Barrett on the bed.
The Weber State University student’s death stunned her family.
But police also found “a note written and signed by Garfield and the decedent in which both parties discussed their intention to die by suicide,” according to the probable cause statement.
‘Officers were later contacted by a friend of the deceased who had called 911 and requested a welfare check on the deceased out of concern for her safety,’ the court was told.
“The friend provided screenshots of several text messages between him and the deceased in which the deceased expressed suicidal thoughts.
“The girlfriend also advised that he was aware of a suicide pact between the decedent and Heavenly Faith Garfield, and specifically that the pact included one party fatally shooting the other and then himself.”
Most of Barrett’s Facebook friends thought nothing was wrong when she uploaded a series of humorous memes to her page in the days before her death.
Barrett was still uploading humorous posts to her Facebook page in the days before her death.
But there were also messages that hinted at what was going to happen
The childcare worker was found dead under a blanket on a bed covered in flowers
But there were also messages that hinted at what was planned.
“You, me, one shot, another shot, a few more shots, another shot, we’re going to black out,” read one less 24 hours before she died.
The pair photographed each other as they purchased the gun they would use before heading to Garfield’s house together to carry out their plan.
Garfield’s father discovered what had happened and called at 3:30 that afternoon after arriving at the home 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.
“The caller advised dispatch that the decedent had been shot and killed by his daughter,” the probable cause statement reads.
“The caller stated that Garfield shot the decedent in accordance with a suicide pact between her and the decedent, whereby each party would fatally shoot the other and then themselves.”
He discovered that Barrett’s body was “covered with a blanket and there were flowers on the bed.”
Garfield was arrested that afternoon and charged with murder.
Two days later, Garfield’s sister presented investigators with a second bullet.
“Garfield’s sister said Garfield gave her the bullet and told her it was the bullet she intended to use to shoot herself,” investigators noted.
Her father then handed over two boxes of ammunition that he said his daughter asked him to remove from her white 1999 Suburban.
“The first box he produced contained Sig Sauer 9mm Rose FMJ bullets; all the bullets were still in the box,” the court heard.
“The second box contained Federal Premium Jacketed Hollow Point bullets.
‘There were two rounds missing from the second box.’
Garfield has deleted her social media accounts and it is not clear how she came to know the woman she killed.
A professional profile identifies her as a “behavior technician” working in Farr West, north of Salt Lake City.
“Heavenly Faith Garfield is an expert at changing the lives of their patients for the better,” it claims, adding that she is “passionate about improving patients’ quality of life.”
An obituary for Barrett stated that her “smile and laugh would always light up the room.”
Barrett, pictured with her mother Elizabeth and her father Adam
Utah’s Fourth District Court on Tuesday accepted a plea deal with Garfield in which the murder charge was dropped, but she admitted manslaughter for aiding and abetting another person’s suicide.
In an obituary for her former friend, Barrett is described as a young woman whose “laughter would always light up the room.”
“She found happiness in all things water, teaching swimming lessons and serving as a lifeguard for many summers,” it adds.
“She enjoyed the outdoors, hiking, watching planes take off and landing, ice skating, Dr Pepper, taking pictures of sunsets and cars.
“No matter her struggles, Brooklyn’s smile and laugh always lit up the room. She cheered everyone up, even when she herself was suffering.
“While there is sadness for her surviving friends and family, we are comforted to know that she was met in heaven by many who love her. She will be greatly missed.”
Garfield faces a prison sentence of one to 15 years when she returns to court on November 6.