Prosecutors say teen was thrown from boyfriend’s car twice; he says she jumped

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (Court TV) — Prosecutors say a Connecticut man was under the influence and driving erratically when his girlfriend fell from his moving truck twice before her death.

Cooper Ouellette, 21, has pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular manslaughter and selling or delivering liquor to a minor in the death of his girlfriend, Sophie Ringquist, 17. Ouellette’s trial began on Oct. 29, with Sophie’s mother, Lynne Ringquist, called as the first witness.

Sophie and Ouellette had been dating for approximately three years when she was killed on May 20, 2023. The two, both 17 at the time, had gone to a party together, Ringquist testified. When her daughter hadn’t arrived home by 11:44 p.m. — 14 minutes past her curfew — her mother texted to ask where she was. Minutes later, Ouellette’s pickup truck pulled into the driveway.

Ringquist said Ouellette ran inside the house, calling for her and saying something was wrong with Sophie. Ringquist ran out to the car, where she said she found “Sophie slumped over … she was leaning towards the side, towards the driver’s seat,” she said. “He said Sophie was driving. And I said, ‘She was driving?’ And he said, ‘No, no, no, I was driving.’ I said, ‘How much have you had to drink?’ And I don’t really remember exactly what he said because then my attention went to Sophie.”

When she pulled her daughter from the truck, Ringquist said her daughter was “limp, lifeless” and she noticed she had “road rash on her left cheek, she had a chipped front tooth and a bottom tooth that looked like it was about to fall out.” The family rushed Sophie to the hospital, where doctors were unable to save her life.

Ringquist testified that when she confronted Ouellette to ask what had happened to her daughter, he claimed that Sophie “fell out of the truck” after telling him that she needed to vomit. “He told me that Sophie said she needed to throw up and that he told her to tell him when,” Ringquist said. “She didn’t give him enough time and fell out of the truck.”

An arrest affidavit reviewed by Court TV tells a different story. Investigators said that witnesses at the party described Ouellette and Sophie as fighting, noting that at one point the defendant allegedly kicked his girlfriend with a boot. The same witnesses said Sophie had been trying to arrange an alternative ride home because of the couple’s fight.

Digital evidence cited in the arrest affidavit allegedly shows Ouellette driving erratically after the couple left the party. During the drive, Sophie also began to document part of the trip with a video on Snapchat. Police described the video:

There was commotion in the video and the footage was not clear. The commotion sounds were consistent with [Sophie] exiting from the front passenger seat and getting out of the open vehicle door. Cooper then suddenly stomped on the gas pedal, as a hard acceleration of a diesel engine was suddenly heard along with commotion. An audible thud noise was simultaneously heard with [Sophie] yelling “Ow!” There was more commotion in the video as it appeared [Sophie] was knocked to the ground after being struck by Cooper’s truck. The ground was visible in segments of footage and the angle of the video showed as upward toward the rear end of the truck as it drove away from [Sophie]. Some frames depicted the rear end of Cooper’s Chevrolet and its taillights. It was obvious that [Sophie] was no longer inside the truck. [Sophie] gasped for breath and sobbed as the video ended.

Cellphone data showed that after she left the truck, Sophie began moving slowly as she texted a friend, first saying “I’m saved” before immediately correcting the typo to “scared.” Minutes later, Sophie’s cellphone data again matched that of Ouellette’s vehicle after he drove back around and picked her up.

Prosecutors said that vehicle data shows Ouellette drove past the Ringquist home with Sophie in the car multiple times without stopping. The next significant event, investigators said, was when Sophie sent a friend a photo that showed her with a bloody nose at 11:41 p.m. Moments later, Ouellette’s driving speed changed and Sophie left his truck for a second time.

In an interview with police, Ouellette repeated the story he had told the Ringquist family, saying that the victim needed to vomit but failed to give him time to pull over.

Ouellette’s attorney told Court TV that his client plans to testify in his own defense.

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