Brook Leigh Fagundes, 16, of McAlester died after she apparently fell off the cliff, struck her head on a rock, and fell into the water. Fagundes was pronounced dead at the scene from head injuries, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) reported. It is estimated that the cliff from which the girl fell was about 40 feet high.
According to the district attorney's office, Bailey Jonathan Roberts, 19, of McAlester pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to first-degree manslaughter. Roberts received a five-year deferred sentence, along with orders to attend a victim's impact panel.
A victim's impact panel is composed of a group of people who express their feelings and talk about their experiences relating to various crimes. The panel shares how their lives and the lives of their family members have been affected as a result of crimes, such as alcohol-related accidents.
Shell Tidwell, 19, of Savannah pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to a misdemeanor charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol. Tidwell received a one-year deferred sentence, and was ordered to pay a $250 fine and attend a victim's impact panel.
Jenny Dian Bagett, 19, of McAlester pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to being a minor in possession of alcohol, and was ordered to pay a $250 fine and attend a victim's impact panel.
Manslaughter and alcohol charges against a fourth teen, Joshua Aaron Henry, 18, of McAlester are still pending.
Kyle Waters, Sequoyah County assistant district attorney, said in July that according to the state medical examiner's office in Tulsa, Fagundes had a blood-alcohol level of .28 at the time of her death, which is more than three times the legal limit for driving.
Sequoyah County Sheriff Johnny Philpot said his deputies first responded to the report of a drowning at Eagle Bluff located in Tenkiller State Park. Deputies learned that teens had come up to the lake with the girl for the day. The teens told officers that they had left Fagundes at Eagle Bluff and when they returned, she was gone.
Divers recovered the girl's body in about 58 feet of water.
