Carmen Johnson

Authorities are investigating whether electrocution played a role in the drowning of a 15-year-old girl in Smith Lake Saturday afternoon.

Carmen Johnson, a Priceville High student, died while swimming with family and three other cheerleaders off a boat dock at a residence near Double Springs, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

“My understanding is they jumped off the boat dock and were coming back in when it happened,” Winston County Coroner Larry Gilliland told The Decatur Daily. “It’s been ruled an accidental drowning. We’ll know more about what happened to her once we do an autopsy.”

Johnson was pulled from the water by divers about an hour later and pronounced dead, said Alabama State Trooper Johnathan Appling, an ALEA spokesman. 

Gilliland said electricity was running through the boat dock and investigators are trying to determine if it caused the accident. Reagan Gargis, a ninth-grade cheerleader, also was injured and taken Cullman Regional Medical Center.

Johnson’s family will hold a visitation from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday at Epic Church in Decatur with the funeral to commence at 5 p.m. Burial will follow at Roselawn Cemetery.

In September 2009, five people were injured, two critically, in Cullman County when they were electrocuted on a boat dock with a faulty lighting system. Counties do not have any building regulations which means electrical work does not have to be inspected. Alabama Power owns and manages Smith Lake but doesn’t have any regulations either.

Priceville High cheer coach Kari Sharbutt told The Daily that Johnson and her family spent a lot of time on the water together. A community-wide prayer vigil was held in Priceville Sunday for Johnson’s family.

“I’ve known Carmen basically her whole life because her mother and I went to school together,” Sharbutt said. “They’re all just so sweet and would do anything for you and take care of you. I still just don’t believe this happened to Carmen.”

In addition to being a flyer on the cheer squad, Johnson, a sophomore, was an outstanding student.

“She is a remarkable young lady who always pushed herself so hard to be where she was,” Holly Miller told The Daily.

At least 11 people drowned in north Alabama in 2015, including 10 from June to mid-August. At the time, Marine patrol trooper Steven MacLeroy called it one of the worst summers for drowning deaths in years.