The man accused of driving a boat while impaired and striking two swimmers on Harris Lake in August 2025 has pleaded guilty. Quinten Kight will serve between 12.5 to 15 years in prison on the second-degree murder charge. He also received a suspended sentence of about two years on another charge that could be served consecutively.
Kight, 40, pleaded guilty to all of the charges against him in Chatham County Court Monday morning.
He was driving the boat that hit and killed 10-year-old Brooklyn Carroll on Aug. 2, 2025. Jennifer Stehle, a social
worker and mother of one of Carroll’s friends, was critically injured. She survived, but her leg was amputated.
During the
hearing Monday, Chatham County District Attorney Jeff Nieman laid out
the facts of the case against Kight.
Nieman said
Kight was operating AnnMarie Flanigan’s boat starting at 1 p.m. that afternoon
with 11 passengers, including four children.
Around 4:30
p.m., Kight was pulling two people on wakeboards. Nieman said everyone on
Kight’s boat, including Kight, was looking back at the wakeboarders instead of
ahead.
The Stehle boat
was in a cove, with several people including Jennifer Stehle and Brooklyn
Carroll swimming nearby.
Kight turned at
the last minute, missing the Stehle boat by inches but striking both Jennifer and
Brooklyn in the water.
Nieman said
“several people from both boats sprung into action to render aid to the victims,” juxtaposing
that with Kight, who he said “sprang into action to attempt to dispose evidence,” throwing
beer cans overboard.
Nieman also said
investigators found empty alcohol cans with markings that appeared consistent
with the beverages having been “shotgunned.”
‘A nightmare’
Jennifer Stehle
gave the first victim impact statement during Monday’s hearing.
She said that her faith has carried her through trauma.
“I don’t know why my life was spared that day; but I know that day it was, I will never stop being grateful for that gift,” Stehle said. “We will never
forget Brooklyn and the shining light that she was meant to be.”
The parents of
Brooklyn Carroll — Matt Carroll and Kim Cannon — also spoke to the judge about
the loss of their daughter.
Matt Carroll
read pieces of the speech he gave at Brooklyn’s funeral, moving several adults in the courtroom to tears.
“She was my
little buddy and my best friend,” Carroll said. “Last August, I not only lost
my daughter, I lost my heart, my soul, my Caniac, my little Wolfpack cheerleader, my dog trainer, and my absolute best friend in the whole world.”
Brooklyn’s
mother Kim Cannon described her loss.
“I will never
be the person I was before August 2, 2025. There will always be someone
missing. Every holiday, every birthday, every family picture milestone and every ordinary day will carry her absence of my little girl,”
Cannon said.
She spoke about Brooklyn’s sister Ava, who will now grow up without her sister.
Both parents
highlighted the possible person Brooklyn could have become, saying she was
robbed of her future.
Kight’s history
Quinten Kight’s
attorney spoke about his history during the hearing, describing Kight’s childhood
on a farm in New Mexico and later military career.
His attorney
told the Judge Kight has been deployed multiple times and has a daughter.
He said Kight
was diagnosed with CTE in March of 2022 and forced to retire from his military service.
Kight spoke briefly, saying, “I
truly am sorry, for my own conscious decisions, to the families. I can’t even imagine. God’s with you, God’s
with everyone.”
‘Can’t be fixed by this courtroom’
After reading Kight’s sentence,
Judge Richard Baddour was emotional.
“In criminal court, we call it
the justice system. But we don’t really do justice a lot of times in this
courtroom, and it’s a great regret of mine that we aren’t better able to
provide that measure of justice to people,” Baddour said. “What happened to you
all can’t be fixed by this courtroom or anything in it. So, I’m sorry.”
Baddour told Jennifer Stehle he
was struck by her choice of grace over bitterness.
He also acknowledged the
confusion the families feel about the sudden loss of loved ones.
“Those are real feelings, and
they’re okay to have,” Baddour said. “I see a lot of love over there and a lot
of strength, and a lot of people who care.”
What’s next
Kight’s co-defendant AnneMarie
Flanigan still has a pending case.
She is the owner of the boat.
Flanigan is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of death or serious injury by impaired boating, and aiding and abetting drunk boating.
Her next court date is Sept.14.