Photo Courtesy of Lincoln County Jail
WRDW reported that 32-year-old Shontover Kirkland pled guilty on June 22 to both reckless conduct and involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of both Edward Kirk and Eynn Wilson.
The incident occurred on April 25, 2021, on Clarks Hill Lake in Lincoln County, Georgia.
According to police reports, Kirkland rented two boats for a birthday celebration. Some time out on the water, Kirkland – not knowing that Edward didn’t know how to swim – pushed the man into the lake. Edward’s best friend, Eynn, noticed the struggle and jumped into the water to try to save him. Kirkland claimed that they both sank into the water. Police say that several other party-goers attempted to dive in to help but to no avail. Both men’s bodies were found a week later.
During the hearing on Tuesday, accounts of the incident were retold to the court. The initial arrest warrant was revisited, which claimed that Kirkland “did unlawfully endanger the bodily safety of Edward Lee Kirk, Jr. by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk [and] that her act of shoving him off a boat into deep, cold water on Clarks Hill Lake without knowing whether or not he could swim would endanger the safety of said person and the disregard constituted a gross deviation from the standard care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation.”
The ruling and examination of the evidence weren’t easy for the family. Lakesha Johnson, Edward’s sister, said, “We had to relive this whole devastating incident all over again. There are so many lives impacted just off of one person’s actions, and she [Kirkland] has to live with that.”
Although Kirkland apologized and took full accountability for her actions, Lakesha and the rest of the family weren’t satisfied. “In our opinion, justice wasn’t served by just a year for costing two people their lives.”
According to District Attorney Bill Doupe, no plea agreement was offered to Kirkland, leaving the defendant to plead guilty or not guilty to the supposed charges.
Doupe explained, “Involuntary manslaughter is the unintended killing of another through the commission of a misdemeanor offense. In this case, we alleged reckless conduct was that misdemeanor offense. Kirkland was directly responsible for pushing Edward Kirk into the middle of a deep channel in 69-degree water, not knowing whether he could swim or not.”
The resulting stipulations sentenced Kirkland to one year in jail and nine years of probation.