State of Connecticut v. Cooper Ouellette

Cooper Ouellette, of Harwinton, is on trial in Connecticut Superior Court in New Britain, charged with first-degree manslaughter and with delivering alcohol to a minor in the death of Sophie Ringquist. Sophie was 17, a junior at Lewis Mills High School in Burlington, on track to graduate early and already taking college classes. On the night of May 20, 2023, she left a party in Terryville in his pickup truck. Prosecutors allege that on the drive home she was knocked from the truck and run over, and that he then brought her to her family's driveway. She died at Bristol Hospital early the next morning. Ouellette, who was about 18 that night, has pleaded not guilty. He is presumed innocent, and the State alone carries the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

The State's proof leans on data. Investigators rebuilt the drive from Life360, the family location app on both phones, together with surveillance video and Sophie's own texts and selfies, and turned it into a forensic animation. The defense fought to keep that data from the jury, pointing to stretches where it showed phones moving backward at more than 250 miles an hour and an eleven-minute gap at the most important time of the night. On October 9, 2026, Judge Chris Pelosi ruled that the jury may see it. Whether it is reliable enough to carry a manslaughter charge is now a question for the jury, and the defense does not have to prove anything.

First-degree manslaughter in Connecticut is not an accident charge, and it is not murder. The State has to prove reckless conduct showing extreme indifference to human life that caused Sophie's death, one element at a time. Sophie's mother has also filed a civil suit against Ouellette, the Bristol package store police say sold the alcohol, and the family that hosted the party; that case is separate and decides nothing here. Testimony is set to begin Thursday, October 29. We will be there every court day, asking whether the State's proof reaches each element and whether the process is fair to Sophie's family and to the man accused. Start with the background report below, then follow the trial with us.