This week, a North Carolina boat owner and her intoxicated boyfriend faced charges following a tragic boat crash in Chatham County that occurred earlier this month, resulting in the death of a 10-year-old girl and severe injury to her friend’s mother.
According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Quinten Kight, 40, and Annemarie Flanigan, 56, were indicted on charges including second-degree murder for their involvement in the incident that took the life of Brooklyn Mae Carroll, a fifth-grade student.
The crash happened on August 2 at Harris Lake, where Carroll, her friend, and the friend’s mother, Jennifer Stehl, 41, were swimming behind an anchored boat. Kight was driving another boat owned by Flanigan, which collided with them, leading to Carroll’s death and Stehl needing hospital treatment, including leg amputation, as previously reported by CrimeOnline.
Investigators noted in court documents that 39 empty hard seltzer cans were found on the boat Flanigan owned. Kight reportedly exhibited signs of intoxication, such as the smell of alcohol, red, glassy eyes, and slurred speech. Flanigan was present in the boat at the time of the crash.
Alongside murder charges, Kight is charged with injuring Stehl and operating the boat carelessly while impaired. Flanigan faces allegations of permitting Kight to control her boat while intoxicated and assisting him during its operation.
Captain Nathan P. Green from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission stated at a news conference that the victims were hit by Flanigan’s boat’s propeller due to Kight’s distraction while watching an inner tube being towed.
A statement from Carroll’s family after the fatal crash said that the girl “had a uniquely goofy, wonderfully weird sense of humor that could brighten anyone’s day, and it was a part of what made her so unforgettable.”
Stehle’s family said that Jennifer, a Wake County Public School System social worker, remains hospitalized and will be for some time.
“We will continue to seek change in North Carolina’s boating laws to protect swimmers and families,” Kristie Stehle said. “And we pray no one else will ever have to walk the road we’re on today.”
