By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-26 15:53:45 | Updated at 2024-09-30 19:37:09
4 days ago
The haunting final posts 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 killing.
Heavenly Faith Garfield, 22, shot Brooklyn Barrett, 21, after they spent weeks planning their deaths in Saratoga Springs, Utah.
Barrett appeared to speak cryptically of the plan in a series of Facebook posts the day before her death.
'Sunflowers face the sun,' she wrote. 'When they cannot find the sun, they face each other.'
Garfield pleaded guilty to manslaughter in court on Tuesday after she admitted shooting her friend in the head with a dumdum bullet before backing out of the plot.
Brooklyn Barrett, 21, died in April from a gunshot wound to the head in what she thought was a suicide pact with her friend Heavenly Faith Garfield, 22,
Garfield has admitted manslaughter after shooting her friend and backing out of the plot
Police who were called to the house on East Propeller Street on April 30 found the young childcare worker lying dead on a bed of flowers with an 'obvious gunshot wound to the head'.
Officers found an unloaded Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm pistol on a nightstand next to the bed and one spent shell casing next to Barrett on the bed.
The death of the Weber State University student stunned her family.
But police also found 'a note written and signed by Garfield and the deceased 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 dispatch and requested a welfare check of 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 expresses suicidal ideations.
'The friend also advised that he was aware of a suicide pact between the deceased and Heavenly Faith Garfield, and specifically, that the pact was that one party would fatally shoot the other and then herself.'
Most of Barrett's Facebook friends thought nothing was amiss as 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 among them were posts that hinted at what was about to take place
The childcare worker was found lying dead under a blanket on a bed covered with flowers
But among them were posts which hinted at what was planned.
'You, Me, A shot, Another shot, A few more shots, Yet another shot, We're blacking out,' read one less 24 hours before she died.
The pair photographed each other as they bought the gun they would use before heading together to Garfield's home to carry out their plan.
Garfield's father discovered what had happened and called 911 after arriving at the house, 35 miles south of Salt Lake City, at 3.30pm that afternoon.
'The reporting party told dispatch that the deceased individual had been shot and killed by his daughter,' the probable cause statement reads.
'The caller stated that Garfield shot the deceased according to a suicide pact between her and the deceased in which one party would fatally shoot the other and then herself.'
He found that Barrett's body was 'covered with a blanket and there were flowers laid on the bed'.
Garfield was arrested that afternoon and charged with murder.
Two days later Garfield's sister handed investigators a second bullet.
'Garfield's sister said that Garfield had given her the bullet and told her that it was the bullet she intended to use to shoot herself,' investigators noted.
Her father then handed over two boxes of ammunition which he said his daughter had asked him to remove from her 1999 white Suburban.
'The first box he produced contained Sig Sauer 9 mm Rose FMJ rounds; all rounds were still in the box,' the court heard.
'The second box contained Federal Premium Jacketed Hollow Point rounds.
'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 out of Farr West to the north of Salt Lake City.
'Heavenly Faith Garfield is an expert in changing the lives of their patients for the better,' it claims, adding that she is 'passionate about enhancing patient quality of life'.
An obituary for Barrett said 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 accepted a plea deal with Garfield on Tuesday in which the murder charge was dropped but she admitted manslaughter for aiding another person's suicide.
An obituary for her former friend describes Barrett as a young woman whose 'laugh would always light up the room'.
'She found happiness in anything to do with water and taught swim lessons and served as a lifeguard for many summers,' it adds.
'She enjoyed the outdoors, hiking, watching planes take off and land, ice skating, Dr Pepper, taking pictures of sunsets, and cars.
'No matter her struggles, Brooklyn's smile and laugh would always light up the room. She would cheer anyone up, even when she herself was suffering.
'Although there is heartbreak 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 sorely missed.'
Garfield faces a sentence of between one and 15 years in state prison when she returns to court on November 6.
