AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – An arrest has been made and charges filed in the drowning deaths of two Augusta men at Clarks Hill Lake.
32-year-old Shontover Kirkland was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of Reckless Conduct and two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter in the drowning deaths of Eynn Wilson and Edward ‘EJ’ Kirk.
According to DNR reports, Kirkland rented a 2021 Ranger Reata 22-foot pontoon boat and a 2020 Ranger Reata 22-foot pontoon boat from Clarks Hill Marina at 4271 Old Lincolnton Road in Appling.
The warrant for Kirkland’s arrest states she “did unlawfully endanger the bodily safety of Edward Lee Kirk, Jr.by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that her act of shoving him off a boat into deep, cold water on Clarks Jill Lake without knowing whether or not he could swim would endanger the safety of said person and the disregard constituted a gross deviation from the standard care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation.”
Wilson and Kirk went missing while in the water near Cherokee Boat Ramp Sunday, April 25th. Roughly one week later, their bodies were recovered by dive teams searching the area.
Both men’s cause of death was listed as death by drowning.
The GBI has been investigating the case for months. They’ve also been reviewing video taken in the moments before and after the two men went into the water to determine what led up to the incident.
Kirkland gave a written statement at the time of the incident.
Count on NewsChannel 6 for more details as they become available.
