On Monday, ABC11 spoke with Alex Myers, the victim in a 2023 hit-and-run case that Kight was also charged in. That story led to questions about the slow legal process that allowed Kight to bond out of jail and remain there before Saturday's tragedy.
"It seems like there were a lot of details that were left out that were key to making any headway on this case," Myers said in a follow-up phone call on Tuesday.
RELATED | Boat owner also charged in Harris Lake accident that killed girl, severely injured social worker
One day prior, Myers told the I-Team that he had hardly received any updates on the progress of his case. But on Tuesday, he said he had learned of the reasons for that.
"For some reason or another, they had my phone number that I haven't had since 2018," he said. "They had that as my contact information, even though the state trooper had my personal cell phone, and I spoke to him numerous times through text and on the phone after the accident."
Myers said he got a surprise visit from Moore County District Attorney Mike Hardin and a detective after the I-Team's story ran, and described a major communication gap between the investigating officers the night of his accident and the prosecutor's office that helped contribute to a months-long delay in the case. The hit-and-run charges against Kight in Moore County have been pending for 20 months.
In that time, Kight bonded out of jail for $15,000 and had been out until being arrested after the deadly accident Saturday on Harris Lake.
"It feels like there is a lot of laziness on the investigating officer side of the situation," Myers said.
ABC11 reached out to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) via email, which was the arresting agency in that Moore County case, about the discrepancies that Myers mentioned in his phone call with us on Tuesday.
Here's NCSHP's response:
"After a careful look into this investigation, we have found the below included concerns not to be accurate. The thorough work of the investigating member brought about the timely felony charge of Hit and Run in this matter. There have been no issues with the members' availability for court proceedings since the charge, nor has your below included claims of "the case was stuck in the system due to his personal information being listed incorrectly by troopers on the wreck report taken at the time" arisen at any time."
ABC11 Email to NCSHP
"Hello,
I'm reporting tonight on the investigation into Quinten Kight, the man charged with killing a 10 year old and injuring another woman in a boating accident on Harris Lake this past Saturday.
Tonight, we spoke with a victim in a previous felony hit-and-run in which Kight was arrested by NCSHP. That incident took place in Vass on December 8th, 2023, and the victim's name is Alex Myers. Myers told us that he's recently learned the case was stuck in the system due to his personal information being listed incorrectly by troopers on the wreck report taken at the time, and that there was a several months long delay in Kight's felony report being delivered to the prosecutors involved. He also said that Troopers at the time told him there were declining to run sobriety tests or a blood draw on Kight, who was suspected to be under the influence at the time, because he had arrived back home before being arrested."
"Reaching out to see if NCSHP had any response to the above information we were given."
"The misdemeanor charge of Driving While Impaired was not made as the elements needed to bring forward this charge could not be proven. We take great effort to charge and/or arrest for all definite, clear cut and substantial violations of the law. During the course of this investigation, the offense of Driving While Impaired did not meet the required legal standard to charge."
Family of girl releases statement
Kim and Matt Carroll, the parents of the 10-year-old girl who died, issued a statement through their attorney on Tuesday.
"This past Saturday, our lives were shattered when our daughter, Brooklyn, died from injuries she sustained when she was hit by a boat while she was innocently swimming at Shearon Harris Lake. For the 10 years that she was alive, B filled our lives with joy and laughter.
"We appreciate the support that we have received from our family, our friends and even strangers. As we continue to grieve together as a family, we request privacy."
The family attorney, David Sherlin, added that Brooklyn will receive a private funeral.