By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A Louisville, Kentucky man convicted in a 2022 Fulton County crash that left one child dead and the mother seriously injured will receive a new trial, following a decision from the Sixth District Court of Appeals.
Baylor L. Barnum, 22, was sentenced in March 2024 to 78 months in prison after a Fulton County jury found him guilty of vehicular manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, and vehicular assault.
The charges stemmed from an October 2022 crash near Delta in which Barnum allegedly failed to yield the right of way at County Road 10 and County Road E and struck a Jeep driven by Jasmine Torbet, 36, of Wauseon. Her 7-year-old son, Karson Torbet, was in the vehicle and later died from his injuries.
Barnum’s SUV reportedly reached speeds over 86 mph seconds before the crash. Prosecutors alleged he was under the influence of marijuana and had taken Adderall to stay awake while driving. Barnum told officers at the scene that his brakes had failed, a claim that played a significant role to his defense.
The appellate court’s March 28 ruling focused not on the crash itself, but on jury selection errors. Two jurors were a married couple with ties to the victims’ family.
One had named the child’s grandfather as the best man at his wedding, and both had attended the child’s funeral.
Despite defense objections, the trial court refused to remove them for cause, resulting in Barnum’s attorneys using two of their four peremptory strikes to exclude them.
The court concluded that the couple’s connection to the victim’s family, including their attendance at the child’s funeral, raised concerns about their ability to remain impartial and should have resulted in their removal from the jury. As a result, the court reversed Barnum’s convictions and ordered a new trial.
Barnum also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, but the appellate court ruled the state presented enough proof of recklessness to allow the charges to be retried. Other issues raised on appeal were deemed moot due to the reversal.
Due to all of this, the March 6, 2024, judgment of the Fulton County Court of Common Pleas is reversed, and this case is remanded for retrial.