SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Utah’s governmental immunity law is at the center of multiple wrongful death lawsuits now moving through the courts, including two cases tied to the deaths of young children in Eagle Mountain and an appeal stemming from the Moab police response involving Gabby Petito.
A years-long 2News investigation found Utah’s Adult Probation and Parole claimed it did not know that parolee Kent Cody Barlow tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamines and stopped going to drug treatment 21 days before he was “extremely high on meth” and crashed into Cedar Valley Stables, killing two 3-year-old boys. The crash happened May 2, 2022, in Eagle Mountain, resulting in the deaths of Odin Ratliff and Hunter Jackson.
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Theresa and Bobby Ratliff filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the state. Third District Court Judge Linda Jones dismissed the lawsuit Dec. 4, 2024, on the grounds of governmental immunity. Judge Jones agreeing with the state that its agencies and employees “cannot be held liable for the decisions of a parolee after he is released from incarceration.”
“I understand that this is disappointing for the Plaintiffs. The loss of their son and his friend is tragic and unimaginable, a parent’s worst nightmare,” Jones said.
But she added, “I am required to follow the law. I am simply applying the law as the legislature has written it – and here the Legislature has made clear that government agencies have immunity in the circumstances identified in the complaint.”
The Ratliff’s appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. In that case, the parties completed briefing in February 2026, and the Supreme Court scheduled the case for oral argument in March 2026. Oral arguments were held March 16 and the case is now pending an opinion.
Utah Supreme Court Oral Argument – Ratliff v. State, #20250105
LaShel Shaw, the Ratliff’s’ appellate attorney, said, “We do not know when a decision will issue, particularly given Justice Hagen’s recent departure from the Utah Supreme Court.”
A separate wrongful death lawsuit filed by Brooke and Jeromey Jackson is now on hold while the Utah Supreme Court decides. On April 2, 2026, Judge Stephen Nelson granted the defendant’s motion to stay the proceedings until the companion case is decided by the Utah Supreme Court.
“Us filing separately shouldn’t mean that we have to wait. It’s not right,” Brooke Jackson said.
The Utah Supreme Court is also considering an appeal in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Gabby Petito’s family. Moab police responded to a domestic violence call involving Petito, 22, and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, on Aug. 12, 2021, while the couple was visiting Moab and other national parks on a road trip.
Petito’s body was later found in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest. Laundrie’s body was later found at a nature preserve in Florida near a notebook where he admitted to killing her.
Petito’s family argued the Moab Police Department was “grossly negligent” in its investigation, contending it sympathized with Laundrie and did not properly respond to the domestic violence situation unfolding.
Moab police body camera video from the encounter shows an officer discussing Utah’s domestic violence law and the requirement for an automatic no-contact order when separating people. “If there’s some fighting going on we already was mister nice guy, you already gave them a chance. What you can’t do by law is separate someone and say if we hear from you again, we’re gonna arrest you, because then if one of them really needs held help they may not call police and get help,” the officer said.
The Petito lawsuit was dismissed in district court in November 2024 on the grounds of governmental immunity and is now on appeal at the Utah Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, Moab issued a statement saying the city “stands behind” its police department and will continue to defend that the lawsuit should be dismissed throughout the appeal. The statement said Moab is a city of about 5,000 people that gets millions of tourists each year, and Petito and Laundrie were two of those tourists.
“When Moab’s officers interacted with Ms. Petito, they did so with kindness, respect and empathy. The officers also separated Ms. Petito from Mr. Laundrie for the night. The following day, the couple voluntarily reunited and left Moab — like millions of other tourists before and since,” the statement said.
The Jacksons filed an amicus brief in support of the Petito family, arguing the outcome in the Petito case could impact their case in district court.
Utah State Courts spokesperson Tania Mashburn said the March 4 setting for oral arguments in the Petito matter was postponed after the parties filed a stipulated motion to continue so the case could be heard with a similar case, Mayne v. Salt Lake City. “Parties have not yet completed briefing in the Mayne case,” Mashburn said.
Brooke Jackson, referring to the length of the legal process, said, “It’s been four years that’s longer than they were alive.” She added, “I think that’s what they want us to think and they’re gonna try to shove that down our throat so that we’ll back off – but we’re not giving up.” Barlow was convicted of two counts of depraved indifference murder in 2025 and was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years to life in the Utah State Prison for the killings of the little boys.
Criminal defense attorney Nathan Evershed is familiar with both cases, and said, “That’s why the cases have been filed there is a legitimate argument that they are making that there’s a way to get through and pierce this governmental immunity but it really comes down to the facts and evidence.”
He added, “Now sometimes those mistakes rise up to the wrongdoing and intentionality the more intentional that a mistake is made by a governmental actor the easier and easier it is to pierce that immunity wall.”
Asked about how long appeals can take, Mashburn said the court does not have a standard timeline.
“The Utah Supreme Court reviews each case individually, and the amount of time required to resolve an appeal varies depending on a number of factors, including the legal issues presented, the record on appeal, and the Court’s overall docket. As a result, there is no standard timeline for deciding appeals, and cases involving similar subject matter may proceed on different schedules. The Court is actively considering the matters before it and will issue decisions when its review is complete,” Mashburn said.
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