Man Who Allegedly Killed 10-Year-Old Girl in Drunk Boating Crash Pleads Guilty to Murder Charge

A man who allegedly killed a 10-year-old girl and caused a woman to lose her leg during a drunk boating incident on a North Carolina lake last summer has pleaded guilty.

A judge sentenced Quinten Kight to 150 and 185 months — 12.5 to more than 15 years — in prison after he pleaded guilty the morning of Monday, August 24, to charges including second-degree murder and felony serious injury by impaired boating, according to a Facebook post shared by Chatham County District Attorney Jeff Nieman.

The charges stem from Brooklyn Carroll’s death on August 2, 2025, and injuries that resulted in Jennifer Stehle losing her leg, authorities said. That day, Kight, 42, was accused of driving a boat while drunk on Harris Lake.

Carroll and Stehle, a family friend, had been swimming on the lake when Kight struck both of them, Nieman detailed at Kight’s plea hearing, according to WRAL.

In court, Matt Carroll, Carroll’s father, called his daughter his “little buddy” and “best friend,” WNCN reported.

“Brooklyn is not simply the person who died because of what happened that day,” Carroll said. “She had dreams she hadn’t even had time to dream yet, and decades of life that should’ve belonged to her.”

Matt also claimed her death “was not an accident” and argued it was “completely preventable,” according to WNCN.

“I would give anything to trade places and go sit in a jail cell for a decade with a smile on my face if it meant Brooklyn could come back,” Matt added.

Brooklyn, a West Lake Elementary School student, was with the Stehle family the day of the crash, The News & Observer reported. Stehle had worked at Brooklyn’s school as a social worker. According to the newspaper, Stehle said Brooklyn “was best friends” with her daughter.

Stehle needed several surgeries, therapy and rehabilitation as a result of her injuries from the crash, according to a GoFundMe page established to support her.

Kight had been driving 11 passengers, including two people wakeboarding from the boat during the incident, the WRAL reported. Several empty cans of alcohol were reportedly found aboard the vessel.

Kight and his girlfriend, Annemarie Flanigan, who owns the boat Kight was driving, were ultimately arrested, according to The News & Observer. She has pleaded not guilty to a second-degree murder charge.

Chas Post, an attorney representing Kight, said in court that Kight seemed “genuinely sorry,” the newspaper reported. Kight was also said to have apologized in the courtroom.

After Kight pleaded guilty, Brooklyn’s parents said in a joint statement published by WNCN: “While nothing that happened in court today will bring Brooklyn back to us, the conviction and sentence send a clear message that drunk boating will not be tolerated in North Carolina.”