Quinten Kight, North Carolina man charged in Harris Lake boat accident in Chatham County which led to 10 year old girl, Brooklyn Mae Carroll killed and Jennifer Stehle, having her leg amputated below her knee. Boat operator had previous hit and run.
A North Carolina man has been charged with driving under the influence after allegedly crashing his boat over the weekend into a group of swimmers and killing a 10 year old girl and injuring a woman.
Quinten Kight, 40, is accused of driving into a group of swimmers on Harris Lake in Chatham County, N.C. The boating operator collided with Jennifer Stehle and Brooklyn Mae Carroll, 10, while they were in the lake before 4:35 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 2.
A summer afternoon of swimming at a lake turns into tragedy
At the time of the tragedy, Kight was operating a wake boat, pulling a tube behind, circling around, and drove the boat into a group of three swimmers, causing the injuries and death, WRAL News reported.
Carroll a fifth-grader at West Lake Elementary School in Cary died as a result of injuries she sustained, while Stehle, a school social worker, was severely injured and airlifted to the hospital, where her leg was amputated below the knee, ABC11 reported.
Investigators said they don’t believe the girl killed and the woman injured are related, but that they were swimming together as part of a group at the lake.
Knight was ‘under the influence of an impairing substance,’ an arrest warrant and a N.C. Wildlife spokesperson said according to CBS 17. The warrant further added that Kight ‘unintentionally caused the death of” the child.
Boat operator cited for hit and run crash from two years ago
N.C. Wildlife Commission’s Sgt Claude Smith told the outlet that Knight drove his girlfriend’s Tiger Wake Boat into three swimmers. Officers then arrested him at the Cross Point Access Area.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission confirmed that Knight had been charged with Operating While Impaired and Death by Impaired Boating.
Authorities said they’re awaiting the results of a blood draw conducted on Kight after the incident.
But there’s more. Knight has a pending hit-and-run charge from two years ago, WRAL News reported.
The investigation remains ongoing, and Knight is due in court on Sept. 22,
A GoFundMe page created to help with Jennifer’s medical costs has to date raised over $46K.
