39 beer cans found on man’s boat after crash that killed 10-year-old, district attorney says

NEW HILL, N.C. (WRAL) - A North Carolina boater is facing driving while impaired charges after authorities say he hit multiple swimmers on a lake, killing a 10-year-old girl and seriously injuring a woman.

Quinten Kight, 40, is accused of driving a boat into a group of swimmers at Harris Lake in Chatham County while under the influence Saturday afternoon. The crash killed 10-year-old Brooklyn Carroll and seriously injured Jennifer Stehle, who had to have her leg amputated.

Authorities say both victims were swimming close to a boat when Kight’s boat drove into them. He is facing a felony charge of operating a motor vessel “while under the influence of an impairing substance,” unintentionally causing the death of another person, according to an arrest warrant.

During Monday court proceedings, Chatham County District Attorney Jeff Nieman said investigators found 39 empty beer cans on Kight’s boat following the deadly crash. Other alcohol containers were found outside the boat that were believed to belong to the people on Kight’s boat.

“They found 39 empty beer cans in Mr. Kight’s boat, seven of which appear to have been shotgunned,” Nieman said.

Investigators say at the time of the incident, Kight was looking backwards at a tube he was pulling, and afterward, he allegedly tried to get rid of alcohol from the boat.

The tragedy has deeply affected the West Lake Elementary School community. Brooklyn was a fifth grader at the school, and Stehle, who remains hospitalized, is a school social worker.

Kight is being held on a $500,000 secured bond. If he posts it, he will be monitored by pre-trial release and required to wear an ankle monitor.

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