Photo: Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office
A former bridge tender in West Palm Beach will spend ten years behind bars in the death of an elderly woman.
46-year old Artissua Paulk was initially charged with manslaughter in the death of 79-year old Carol Wright after the woman fell from the Royal Park Bridge back in 2022.
Paulk was found to have raised the drawbridge that runs between West Palm Beach and Palm Beach without checking to see that anyone was walking on the span at the time.
She had been given probation after pleading guilty, but then violated the terms of that probation by failing a drug test and failing to do court-ordered community service.
Paulk appeared in court yesterday where her attorney argued she is a "different person" now and asking for the probation to be reinstated while prosecutors asked for a 15-year sentence. The judge shortened that by five years.