Former tender gets probation following death of woman on West Palm Beach drawbridge

A former bridge tender pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced Tuesday to eight years of probation after a 79-year-old woman fell from a drawbridge — plummeting 60 feet to her death last year in Palm Beach County.

Artissua Lafay Paulk, 44, lifted the Royal Park Bridge on Feb. 6, resulting in the death of Carol Wright, according to West Palm Beach police detectives. Paulk had worked for Florida Drawbridge Inc., a company that manages the bridge, for about a year at the time of Wright’s death, according to the Sun Sentinel, which was the first to report Paulk’s sentencing.

Investigators say Paulk told police she made two separate announcements through the loudspeaker to notify people the bridge was going to open, turned on the red drawbridge traffic lights, waited for a man who was running to get off the bridge, and lowered the traffic and pedestrian gates. She also said she went on the control tower’s balcony three times to check that there were no cars or pedestrians on the bridge before opening it, according to her arrest report.

However, surveillance cameras — which recorded someone coming out to the balcony and walking around during three earlier bridge openings on Feb. 6 — never show Paulk or anyone else on the balcony prior to the 1 p.m. bridge opening (when Wright fell), detectives said.

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Her supervisor informed detectives that bridge tenders are required to turn the traffic lights red, and close the traffic and pedestrian gates in addition to walking onto the balcony three different times to ensure there are no vehicles or pedestrians on the bridge before opening it, the report states. If the tender sees someone on the bridge, they are required to open the gates to let them out and check that there is no one else there before allowing the bridge to open.

READ MORE: Tender, supervisor fired following death of woman on rising West Palm Beach drawbridge

After retrieving a search warrant for Paulk’s phone, investigators determined she wasn’t using her cellphone at the time of the accident. Police did reveal they found deleted text messages between Paulk and her supervisor, sent after Wright fell, discussing what to do.

The supervisor told Paulk to let police know that she walked outside on the control tower’s balcony three times before raising the bridge. The supervisor also instructed Paulk to delete the text messages.

Paulk, and her supervisor, whom the Herald isn’t naming because she wasn’t charged, were fired after the former bridge tender’s arrest on March 17. In July, Florida Drawbridge Inc. reached an $8.3 million settlement with Wright’s family.

Miami Herald staff writer Michelle Marchante contributed to this report.