"That bridge tender has certain safety protocols to follow, specific safety protocols," Jachles said. "That includes lowering of the gates for the vehicles, lowering of the gates for the pedestrians, and making several visual confirmations that there is nobody at either of the spans or past those gates."A search of the phone showed Paulk was not using the device at the time of the incident, investigators said.
However, the arrest affidavit in Palm Beach County court records showed Paulk texted with her supervisor about lying to police, then deleted the texts. 3:20 p.m. from supervisor to Paulk: "When they talk to you make [expletive] sure you tell them you walked outside on balcony 3 diff times to make sure no one was past gates n delete this msg after one time to make sure card [sic] stop 2nd time after gates lowered and 3rd time before you raised spans ok now delete this I know ur upset but u gotta tell them step by step how u do opening" – this message was deleted3:59 p.m.
Another text from Paulk to a friend, sent at 3:44 p.m., said, "I'm here with the police I killed a lady on the bridge." Police said video evidence contradicted her statement that she walked out onto the balcony and visually checked the bridge for vehicles or pedestrians prior to opening the bridge, saying her actions showed "reckless disregard of human life."The Florida Department of Transportation maintains the bridge, but the bridge tenders are staffed by a private state contractor.