A man from Connecticut is accused of hitting his girlfriend, who is 17, with his truck last year. The police are calling it an act of “domestic violence,” and multiple news outlets have gotten an arrest warrant.
The warrant, which was seen by the Hartford Courant, WTIC-TV, and WFSB, says that 19-year-old Cooper Oullette is charged with first-degree manslaughter and giving alcohol to a child in connection with the death of 17-year-old Sophie Ringquist in 2023.
The order says Oullette turned himself into Connecticut State Police on July 12 and was freed on a $50,000 bond. He was due to go to court on July 15. It is not clear if he has made a plea or hired a lawyer to speak for him.
According to the order shown by WFSB, the investigation began on May 21, 2023, when Ringquist was taken to Bristol Hospital in Bristol, Connecticut, by family members after allegedly falling out of her boyfriend’s Chevy pickup truck in Burlington, Connecticut, earlier that same evening. She died later from her wounds.
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The warrant says that Oulette, who was 18 at the time, and Ringquist were at a party in Terryville before the alleged incident. There, a witness said that the two were “engaged in multiple incidents of physical domestic violence.” The warrant says that Oulette drank booze, kept some in his truck, and gave some out at the party. Reports say that the two were having an “on-again, off-again relationship.”
According to the warrant cited by WTIC-TV, the couple then left together in Oulette’s truck that night after he supposedly stopped her from getting another ride home. The police said Oulette was driving “erratically” and that he stopped on a side road and used his phone to record Ringquist. According to the video, Rinquist tried to get out of the truck while Oullette sped up and hit the girl, knocking her to the ground.
The order that the Hartford Courant used says that Ringquist then texted someone and said, “I’m scared.” That’s when the police think Ringquist got back into the truck and Oulette drove toward her house. But cell phone records and witness accounts are said to show that Oulette’s truck was speeding through the girl’s neighborhood. The order says that Ringquist sent a picture of herself to someone that showed she had a cut on her face and a bloody nose.
As per the order shown on WTIC-TV, investigators think that Oullette sped up while Ringquist was outside the truck, crushing her under one of the tires. This is when he dropped her off at home. The outlet said Oulette first told police that Ringquist fell from the truck because she felt like she had to throw up and that he stopped the truck before she fell.
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In her death notice, Ringquist is said to have died “as a result of a senseless accident” on May 21, 2023. She was a passionate young woman, and her obituary said she was going to finish from Lewis Mills High School a semester early and go to school to study construction management.
The family of Ringquist thanked police for their hard work in the case in a statement given to PEOPLE Connecticut.
The statement said in part, “We urge anyone who has been a victim of or seen domestic violence to protect the victim and call the police.” “We want to thank all of Sophie’s friends, family, and people she touched for continuing to pray for us as we go through this part of the process in our search for Sophie’s truth and justice.”