From left: Quentin Kight (Chatham County District Court), Annemarie Flanigan (Moore County Jail) and Brooklyn Mae Carroll (GoFundMe). Background: Harris Lake in North Carolina (Wake County).
A North Carolina judge declined to reduce the bond of a boat owner allegedly involved in a fatal crash that killed a 10-year-old girl and caused a woman to have her leg amputated.
Lawyers for 56-year-old Annemarie Flanigan requested her bond be lowered from $1 million to $500,000 for charges that include second-degree murder in the death of Brooklyn Mae Carroll and causing injury to Jennifer Stehle, who had her left leg amputated. Flanigan”s boyfriend, 40-year-old Quinten Gregory Kight, was driving the boat Aug. 2 when he crashed into a group of swimmers about 100 feet offshore on the Shearon Harris Reservoir in Chatham County, authorities say.
Flanigan’s attorney, Joshua Xerri, said his client is a recently retired U.S. Army combat nurse who has a 19-year-old son with autism in need of her care.
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“Every day that Ms. Flanigan is in jail is a day that her son is not getting the care and support he needs and was getting from Flanigan,” Xerri said, according to a courtroom report from local ABC affiliate WTVD. “There is no allegation from the state that Ms. Flanigan had been drinking, intoxicated, or operating the boat in any way.”
But prosecutors argued Flanigan’s bond should stay the same, despite the fact that she was sober at the time of the crash.
“What we have, Your Honor, is someone who had years of watching this guy hurt people when he gets drunk,” District Attorney Jeff Nieman said, per local NBC affiliate WRAL. “She’s the one who handed the keys to a drunk person.”
Nieman noted that cops recovered 39 empty beer cans, six of which allegedly appeared to be “shotgunned,” or consumed quickly via a hole punctured in the side of the beer can, in the boat.
Ultimately, the judge agreed to keep Flanigan’s bond at $1 million. Kight also remains in jail on the same bond.
Brooklyn’s parents attended the hearing and could be heard sobbing, WRAL reported. They sent out the following statement to local media:
Instead of taking our beloved Brooklyn to school today, we attended a criminal bond hearing for one of the people accused with her death. As we sat and listened to the disturbing facts surrounding this needless and tragic event, we held a lock of Brooklyn’s hair in our hands and remembered the joy she brought to our lives. We thank the Chatham County District Attorney’s office and law enforcement for their undivided attention to this case, which has devastated so many families. We also express our heartfelt thanks to this community for their continued prayers.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Kight and Flanigan were already facing charges of death or serious injury by impaired boating before they were indicted on the murder charges.
Nieman told the court that Kight wasn’t even looking forward as he was driving the boat, but instead peering back at the people on the inner tube he was hauling. There were 10 people on the boat, including two children, cops say.
Authorities took a sample of Kight’s blood to determine the blood alcohol content, but those results have not yet been publicly released.
In addition to allowing Kight to drive, Flanigan wrote a “misleading statement” that claimed she didn’t witness the crash and only came to the scene after she was called, prosecutors said, per WRAL.
Meanwhile, Stehle’s long road to recovery is just beginning, she said in a statement.
“Our hearts are full of gratitude for the overwhelming support our family has received. The meals, visits, messages, and prayers have been more than acts of kindness,” she and her brother wrote. “They have been lifelines holding us together during the most difficult days of our lives. We feel the strength of those prayers, and we seek God’s goodness in the way this community has come together to lift our family up.”
Brooklyn’s family laid her to rest last month.
“BB was a light in every room she entered, with an infectious smile, a loving heart, and a spirit that touched everyone who knew her. Her laughter, kindness, and energy brought so much joy to her family and friends,” a GoFundMe page stated.
