WEST PALM BEACH — A former tender charged in the death of a woman who fell from the Royal Park Bridge pleaded guilty to violating her probation Monday, rupturing a deal with prosecutors that would have spared her from prison entirely.
Artissua Paulk, 44, tested positive for marijuana two months into her eight-year probation, according to court documents. Assistant State Attorney Chrichet Mixon did not agree to a second plea deal after Paulk violated the first, leaving Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer to decide her penalty.
She faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for manslaughter.
Paulk pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year for the Feb. 6, 2022, death of 79-year-old Carol Wright. Wright rode her bike across the span that connects Palm Beach to downtown West Palm Beach when Paulk raised the drawbridge at the request of a passing boat. Wright fell 50 to 60 feet and landed on the span’s concrete footings.
Paulk told the Florida Department of Transportation that she had checked the drawbridge multiple times before raising it and broadcast its opening over loudspeakers. West Palm Beach police, however, said surveillance-camera videos from the bridge and text messages that Paulk sent — and then deleted — contradicted her statements.