NC man admitted drinking hard seltzer before fatal boat crash, warrants state
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- Search warrants state Quinten Kight admitted drinking before fatal lake crash.
- Boat propeller struck and killed 10-year-old while injuring another swimmer nearby.
- Authorities found 39 empty cans aboard Kight’s surf boat.
The man accused of killing a 10-year-old girl and seriously injuring a Wake County woman in a boating accident last weekend told police he had been drinking alcohol, newly released search warrants revealed Thursday.
Quinten Kight, 40, of Vass was arrested Saturday on multiple charges after the deadly incident on Shearon Harris Lake.
His girlfriend and the owner of the boat, 56-year-old Annemarie Flanigan, has also been charged in the crash.
Officials laid out the timeline of events at a brief news conference Thursday afternoon at N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission headquarters in Raleigh.
Ten-year-old Brooklyn Mae Carroll of Apex was a guest at the Chatham County lake Saturday with Jennifer Stehle, 41, and Stehle’s friends and family, according to Capt. Nathan Green with the Wildlife Resources Commission. Stehle is a social worker at West Lake Elementary School, where Brooklyn was a rising fifth-grader, according to Brooklyn’s obituary.
What happened in the crash?
Stehle, Brooklyn and another child were swimming behind the Stehles’ boat about 4:30 p.m. when the incident occurred, Green said. Search warrants identified the Stehles’ boat as a 17-foot-long Starcraft deck boat and noted the boat was anchored at the time.
Meanwhile, Kight was driving a 22-foot-long 2023 Tige surf boat pulling two adults on wake boards, according to Green. When one of the people he was towing fell into the water, Kight and the seven other occupants onboard looked to the rear of the boat, which subsequently struck Stehle and Brooklyn, Green said.
Both victims appeared to have been injured by the boat’s propeller, according to Green.
The Starcraft was used to take Brooklyn and Stehle to the boat ramp, where volunteer firefighters performed CPR and transported them to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, search warrants said. Stehle’s leg had to be amputated above the knee.
When an officer from the Wildlife Resources Commission responded about 5 p.m., Kight was allegedly sitting next to his boat on the dock, eating a sandwich, a search warrant states.
“As I got near Kight I noticed he had red and glassy eyes,” the officer wrote in the warrant. “His speech was hard to understand. I also smelt (sic) a strong odor of alcohol.”
Kight reportedly admitted driving the boat at the time of the crash and drinking at least two hard seltzers, according to search warrants. Thirty-nine empty hard seltzer cans and two full cans were found in the boat, the warrants state.
“Kight admitted that nobody was looking forward when the collision occurred because they had people wake boarding behind Kight’s boat,” the warrant states. “At the time of the incident Brooklyn was actively swimming along with family near an anchored boat.”
A purple and teal youth life vest was found wrapped around the propeller of Kight’s boat, according to another search warrant. Both boats were seized by officers as evidence.
Brooklyn Carroll loved riding horses
Brooklyn’s obituary described her as “a shining light in the lives of everyone who knew her.” Known as “B” or “BB” by her loved ones, she loved riding horses and playing outdoors and hoped to become a teacher.
She is survived by her parents and an older sister, according to the obituary. Her family has established a scholarship in her name to be awarded annually to an aspiring veterinarian from a local high school. The fund had raised $5,735 of its $16,000 goal as of Thursday afternoon.
Stehle was set to undergo another surgery of Thursday afternoon, according to an update on her Gofundme, which has raised more than $100,000.
Kight and Flanigan remained in the Chatham County jail with bail set at $500,000 secured, respectively, officials said Thursday.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM.
