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IDAHO FALLS — Bonneville County prosecutors say they have reached a plea agreement with an Idaho Falls man who was charged following a boating accident in August that claimed the lives of two people.
Michael Kingston was initially facing two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, but those charges have been amended to two misdemeanor counts of negligent operation of a boat, the Idaho State Journal reported.
“We reached a plea agreement with an eye toward and in accordance with the victims’ family’s wishes,” said Bonneville County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John C. Dewey, adding that the amended charges also reflect the culpable conduct of the defendant.
A change of plea hearing has been tentatively scheduled for March 30.
Kingston was charged for his alleged involvement in a boating accident that occurred at Blacktail Park on the Ririe Reservoir during the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. Elaine and Edwin Neal Jenkins, a couple from Centerville, Utah, who were passengers on the boat, both died as a result of the incident.
Related:
Centerville couple killed in Idaho boating crash
A Centerville couple died and a man was injured after they were ejected and then struck by the boat they were riding in near Blacktail Park at Ririe Reservoir Monday afternoon, authorities said.Bonneville County sheriff’s officials reported at that time that Kingston was turning his boat on the water when he and his passengers were ejected.
Kingston told investigators that he was going about 40 miles per hour when the incident occurred, but he also said that he had been boating at speeds up to 80 miles per hour before that, according to a Post Register article.
Edwin, who had recently had a hip replacement and was subsequently unable to swim, drowned, according to the Post Register. Elaine and Kingston were both hit by the circling boat and its propeller.
Sheriff’s officials said Elaine succumbed to her injuries at the scene and her husband, who was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, died later that day.
Kingston was also treated at the hospital.
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