19-Year-Old Who Pushed Friend Off 60-Foot Bridge Sentenced to 2 Days in Jail

Amanda Cowan/The Columbian via AP

A 19-year-old who pushed her friend off a 60-foot bridge in Washington was sentenced to two days in jail. Taylor Smith was also ordered to spend 38 days on a work crew after pleading guilty earlier this month to reckless endangerment. Back on August 17, 2018, Taylor pushed 17-year-old Jordan Holgerson off a Vancouver bridge in Moulton Falls Regional Park. Holgerson suffered six broken ribs and punctured lungs.

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Clark County District Court Judge, Darvin Zimmerman, stated that the severity of Holgerson’s injuries was the motive for the 2 days sentence, which he explained to the courtroom after delivering Smith’s sentence. Along with her sentence,  Smith was ordered to pay a fine of $300 and have no contact with Holgerson for two years. Authorities found out about the incident after a 10-second video clip was captured via cellphone, which quickly went viral.

 

The judge heard from Holgerson, her mother, and the defendant, but Holgerson was so emotional that she needed a victim’s advocate to read her statement. The statement noted that while she was falling through the air, she was terrified for her life. She added, “When I was being pulled from the water, I thought, ‘I’m going to die,’ because I couldn’t breathe. And I was watching my body change color by the second.”

Genelle Holgerson, Jordan’s mother, told the judge she believed the 19-year-old acted intentionally and should serve as many days in jail as her daughter spent in the hospital after the incident, which was a total of 3 days. The mother noted that while her daughter was in the hospital, Smith did not rush down to see if she was okay, did not show up to the hospital to check on her, and did not stop by their home to see how she was recovering.

Smith had originally pleaded not guilty in September but changed her plea last month after being offered a deal by prosecutors, who recommended she receive no jail time. They initially suggested she served 60 days of home confinement, 30 days of service with work crew and 30 days of community service.

Smith later apologized to Holgerson in court, saying she had grown as a person and learned to think before she acts. Smith added, “I’d like to sincerely apologize to Jordan Holgerson, her family and friends for the pain and humiliation I have caused by my mindless actions that occurred last summer. Although it may have seemed like my intent was to harm” and like “I may have moved on without putting any punishment on myself, this is false. Jordan has passed through my thoughts repetitively since the incident.”

Holgerson initially planned to jump off the bridge into the river by herself but had quickly changed her mind before being pushed.

Watch: Iconic Bridge Gets a Makeover After Hundreds of Suicides

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