He is accused of killing a 10-year-old girl and severely injuring a woman while allegedly boating under the influence on Saturday. Records show previous arrests in New Mexico in 2009 and pending charges from a hit-and-run in December 2023, which injured Vass resident Alex Myers.
On Monday, Myers spoke with ABC11 about learning of Saturday's tragedy while his case is still being processed.
"If they would have been able to do something and maybe I don't know, penalize this guy in some way, you know, maybe that little girl would still be alive," he said.
Myers spoke with ABC11 just hours after Kight made his first court appearance on charges that he killed a girl and critically wounded Jennifer Stehle, a social worker at West Lake Elementary School in Cary. Stehle lost her leg in the accident and remains hospitalized in serious condition.
Myers said one of his friends deployed overseas sent him a text with the story link of what happened at Harris Lake.
"I opened it up, and it was just mind blowing to me that that guy is just living out there completely careless," Myers said.
Court documents show at the time of Saturday's deadly boat collision, Kight was out on a $15,000 secured bond tied to a felony hit-and-run he was charged with on December 8, 2023.
Myers said Kight crossed the center line of Route 690 in his pickup truck, hit his motorcycle, and left the scene. EMS workers arrived to find an injured Myers on the side of the road. If he had not swerved at the last moment, he likely would've been killed.
"If I hadn't have done that, I would have hit him straight in the center of that truck and I wouldn't be here standing and talking to you today," he said.
Myers shared pictures with ABC11 showing the damage to his bike and what he called the "corresponding damage" to Kight's truck. This aligns with security camera footage from shortly after the collision, which shows Kight's damaged truck entering a gated community near the crash site. Myers said he gave the video and pictures to investigators, but it's been slow getting answers through the court system.
Officially, the case is still pending.
"I feel like Moore County should have stepped up and actually prosecuted this guy and maybe gave him some punishment," Myers said. "Maybe he would have woke up. You know, I mean, some people take longer than others to learn things. But that's it's really sad that a ten year old girl had to die because...carelessness."
ABC11 also obtained court records from New Mexico showing that Kight was charged with DUI in 2009. Those documents say that Kight pleaded no contest, paid a fine and received an interlock device, and completed court-ordered DWI school. He was released from probation after completing the court's requirements.
Eyewitness News reached out to Kight's lawyer for the Moore County hit-and-run charges and to the Moore County District Attorney's office, but have not heard back.