![Drawbridge operator responsible for 'unimaginable' death of 79-year-old woman pleads guilty](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/middle-carol-wright-victim-right-artissua-paulk-guilty-of-manslaughter.jpg?id=32735059&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=161%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Composite screenshot of WPTV YouTube video
A Florida drawbridge operator on duty when an elderly woman, trapped on the bridge, plunged to her death has pled guilty to her role in the incident.
Around 1 p.m. on February 6, Carol Wright, 79, was walking her bicycle across the Royal Park Bridge, a drawbridge which connects the island of Palm Beach to West Palm Beach on the Florida mainland. All of a sudden, just as Wright had crossed over the apex of the bridge, it began to open, and Wright immediately grabbed hold of the only thing available: a concrete railing.
A witness on a skateboard, Diego Us Pu, was nearby and was able to grasp Wright for a moment. Unfortunately, Us Pu had no means of bracing himself, and Wright sadly plunged more than 40 feet to her death.
"She’s trapped ... tries to clasp onto the rails as the bridge is lifting," said attorney Lance Ivey, who is representing Wright's family. "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 added.
Bridge tender lied to investigators, affidavit saysyoutu.be
Ivey elsewhere characterized Wright's death as "untimely, unimaginable, and preventable."
Now, the woman who opened the bridge on that fateful day has pled guilty to manslaughter. Artissua Paulk, 43, was the bridge tender on duty when Wright fell. Paulk initially told police that she had followed all of the proper protocols for raising the bridge, including making three separate observations of the bridge from the operator's balcony. However, an investigation indicated that Paulk had not made any physical observations of the bridge for that particular opening, and an examination of Paulk's cell phone suggested that she had sent and received several incriminating text messages regarding the incident: