CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — A grand jury presented charges Thursday against a man accused of crashing into another boat with several kids aboard on Norris Lake in July, killing a 12-year-old boy.
Conner Catlett would have turned 13 years old in August.
The boater accused of causing the crash, 61-year-old Norman Joe Sturgill from Grayson, Kentucky, turned himself in. He was charged with vehicular homicide due to being intoxicated as well as 12 counts of reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. The 12 counts were for each of the crash survivors.
The homicide count carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, and the reckless endangerment counts each carry up to six years in prison.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said Sturgill's Triton bass boat crashed into the stern of a Chaparral motorboat in front of the Norris Landing Marina. Nine of the 13 people aboard the Chaparral were children between the ages of 9 to 17, according to the crash report.
Conner's father, Chris Catlett, previously said witnesses of the crash tried to flag the boater down and tried to get him to slow the boat before the crash.
He learned about the crash from a witness who rushed to tell them about it, saying there were injuries. He said he learned almost immediately his son was dead after going to where the boats collided.
According to the TWRA crash report, Conner died from traumatic injuries.
Sturgill was thrown out of his boat and had some lacerations and bruises. The TWRA said he was later seen at a hospital after refusing medical treatment at the scene. A 62-year-old passenger in Sturgill's boat also was ejected and had lacerations and bruises, according to the report.
No one else was hurt in the crash.
Sturgill's bond was set at $160,000, according to the Claiborne County Sheriff's Office.
Attorney Don Bosch, who represents the Catlett family, issued this statement Thursday on their behalf:
"The Catlett's are relieved at the arrest of Norman Joe Sturgill for Aggravated Vehicular Homicide. We look forward to some small amount of justice for Conner and the family, as well as for the other children and adults involved. We have great faith in District Attorney General Effler and his staff, and hope for a speedy and just resolution in this immense and unnecessary tragedy."
WBIR 10News has reached out to Garza Law Firm, who is representing Sturgill, for a statement.