Two people dead, two wounded and 19-year-old suspect jailed in bloody Laytonville attack

A 17-year-old boy and a 52-year-old man were stabbed to death at a home early Sunday near Laytonville in northern Mendocino County during a bloody rampage that Sheriff Tom Allman described as a “mass tragedy.”

Two other people, a 52-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman, also were critically wounded in the attack, which unfolded inside the Meadow Lane home shortly after midnight Sunday.

Authorities arrested 19-year-old Talen Clark Barton at the house and jailed him on suspicion of two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Allman said Barton was staying at the home in what witnesses described as a “foster care situation.”

Allman said Sunday that investigators had yet to uncover a motive for the attack. He said Barton in recent weeks told a friend that he was planning to kill people. But the sheriff said that information was not relayed to authorities. He said investigators are looking into whether such information “should have been given to law enforcement to prevent these heinous crimes.”

Based upon interviews with authorities and those who know Barton, a portrait emerged Sunday of a troubled young man. Allman said Barton himself called 911 to report the attack and that the suspect smoked marijuana while he was on the phone with emergency dispatchers.

The call took place about 30 minutes after the deadly attack began.

According to Allman, Barton retrieved a 12-inch knife from the kitchen and went to the bedroom where the 17-year-old boy slept. He said Barton began stabbing the boy, resulting in a “violent struggle” and the teen’s death.

A 54-year-old woman who responded to the teen’s cries also was stabbed, Allman said. Barton trailed the woman downstairs, where Allman said he fatally stabbed a 52-year-old man. Another man of the same age also was stabbed in the chest but is expected to survive.

Allman did not identify the dead or wounded because he said authorities were still working Sunday to notify relatives. He declined to say whether the adults were foster parents to Barton.

“I’m not going to get into that right now,” Allman said Sunday during a news conference.

Foster children typically age out of the system at 18.

On what appears to be his Facebook page, Barton refers to himself as the “Master of Cats” and lists Eureka as his place of residence.

A woman who said her mother gained and later relinquished legal guardianship of Barton and his older brother more than a decade ago said Barton moved into the Meadow Lane home about two-and-a-half years ago.

Kristal Rose of Los Angeles said her mother had taken the boys in because they had been living in an abusive situation. But she said the relationship with Talen Barton ended after he attacked her mother.

“My mom described it as his eyes completely went back in his head,” Rose said. “He snapped into some other realm.”

Rose said her mother had confronted Barton after she found knives, garden tools and rope beneath his bed. She said Barton moved out of the house and into the Meadow Lane home where his best friend and his family lived. It was unclear Sunday whether the friend was one of the victims in the attack.

Rose said her mother “pleaded” with the family to get help for Barton. But she said people only ever saw his “brilliant” side. “Nobody understood that he has this dark side. I don’t think anyone took it seriously,” she said.

Allman described a horrific scene after sheriff’s deputies and firefighters arrived Sunday at the Meadow Lane home.

He said a deputy saved the life of the 54-year-old woman by pressing on a neck wound to stop the bleeding. She and the other surviving victim were flown to a hospital and are expected to survive their injuries.

Allman said two girls who also were at home during the attack were not physically harmed. He said Barton cut a cord used to charge a phone and ordered one of the girls to use it to tie up one of the fatally wounded victims before tying up herself.

Allman said Barton told the girls not to call 911 until daylight to give him to time to get away. But the sheriff said one of the girls was able to convince him to make the call himself.

Allman said when deputies arrived, Barton had changed into fresh clothes.

After Barton’s arrest, he told authorities that he smokes marijuana all the time. The sheriff said his agency had one prior criminal contact with Barton in 2013, but Allman said he could not discuss the case because Barton was a juvenile at the time.

Staff Writer Julie Johnson contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Derek Moore at 521-5336 or derek.moore@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @deadlinederek.