A North Carolina boat owner and her boyfriend are facing serious charges after a tragic crash killed a 10-year-old girl and badly injured a woman. Authorities say the boyfriend was drunk when he drove the boat into a group of swimmers.
On Monday, Aug. 11, a grand jury indicted Quinten Kight, 40, and Annemarie Flanigan, 56, for second-degree murder in the death of Brooklyn Mae Carroll, according to court records.
The crash happened on Saturday, Aug. 2, around 4:35 p.m., at Harris Lake in Chatham County. Brooklyn, her friend, and the friend’s mother, 41-year-old Jennifer Stehle, were swimming behind an anchored boat.
Officials say Kight was driving another boat and looked backward instead of forward, hitting the swimmers. Investigators believe he was watching someone being towed behind his boat when it veered toward them.
Both Brooklyn and Stehle were hit by the boat’s propeller. Brooklyn died from her injuries that same day. Stehle was seriously hurt and had to be flown to the hospital, where doctors amputated her leg below the knee.
Police say they found 39 empty alcoholic seltzer cans in the boat. Kight was first arrested for operating a boat while under the influence and causing serious injury.
On Aug. 5, Flanigan — the boat’s owner — was also arrested. Authorities allege she allowed Kight to drive while impaired and helped him operate the boat while drunk.
Court records show Kight has a prior DWI conviction from 2009 in New Mexico and an unresolved hit-and-run charge from two years ago.
Two GoFundMe pages have been set up: one to help Stehle with her medical bills and another to help Brooklyn’s family with funeral expenses.
Both Kight and Flanigan are scheduled to return to court in September.
