'I killed a lady': Florida drawbridge operator pleads guilty to manslaughter over 79-year-old's death
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: The drawbridge operator who was on duty when an elderly woman named Carol Wright had been trapped on the bridge and fallen to her death has now pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the incident. Artissua Paulk, 43, the operator, had initially told the police that all the proper protocols were followed for raising the bridge and that she had made three separate observations from the operator’s balcony. Soon after, an investigation had revealed that Paulk had not made any observations of the bridge for the opening where Wright had fallen.
The Blaze reports that the family of the deceased were present at the court for Paulk’s plea hearing where she pleaded guilty and had been sentenced to time served and another two additional days. She has also been ordered to be part of 200 hours of community service and to remain on probation for eight years. Wright’s family have received a whopping 8.2-million-dollar settlement from the company that operates the bridge.
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The incident had taken place when a 79-year-old Carol Wright was walking with her bicycle across the Royal Park Bridge. Shockingly, just as she crossed the apex of the bridge, it began to open and Wright had immediately grabbed onto a concrete railing, the only thing that was within reach. A passerby that had been there on a skateboard named Diego Us Pu, had managed to hold on to Wright for a time, but he had no means of bracing himself. He could not hold on to the elderly lady and she sadly fell more than 40 feet down to her death.
"She’s trapped ... tries to clasp onto the rails as the bridge is lifting," Lance Ivey, the attorney representing the Wright family had said. "She’s trying painfully to hold on with her 79-year-old hands. Her arms are weak and tired, trying to hold on… She gave it a valiant effort, but unfortunately, her 79-year-old arms and hands gave way, and she falls.” He had also branded Wright’s death as ‘unimaginable and preventable.’
Paulk, who has pleaded guilty had some texts on her phone as well, that worked against her case. She had apparently texted friends about she had “killed a lady on the bridge.” She also texted somebody else, "I opened the bridge lady fell in and died.”
Her supervisor has not been charged of any crime, but he has also sent Paulk a text, instructing her on what to say on the matter. "When they talk to you make [expletive] sure you tell them you walked outside on balcony 3 diff[erent] times to make sure no one was past gates [and] delete this msg [sic] after.” This text has since been deleted.