College Station man indicted for criminally negligent homicide after woman died at Lake Somerville

Ovie Powell II was indicted by a grand jury last week.
Published: Oct. 27, 2020 at 6:58 PM CDT
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SOMERVILLE, Texas (KBTX) - A College Station man is under indictment following the drowning death of Olivia Paige Sweeney back in July at Lake Somerville.

Ovie Powell II is facing a charge of criminally negligent homicide

Powell, 43, was booked into jail Saturday after a Burleson County Grand Jury indicted him on the charge.

Sweeney, a College Station hairstylist, drowned while at the lake with friends including Monique Compton. She and Paige were both hit by the boat that Powell was driving.

“We were laughing kind of playing around talking, joking and next thing I know I look up and the boat’s just flying at us backward and I threw up my arm to brace us and it just it hit us. And it took her under and I went under as well and I don’t, that was the last that I saw her," she said. “It hit both of us and I got cuts on my wrist and on my nail and I had a concussion and I had bruises all over,” she said.

Compton believes what happened was an accident.

“I can’t imagine what he’s going through. I know that it has to be tough dealing with that. I know it was an accident but for my friend Paige I’m glad that she’s getting justice," said Compton.

The Burleson County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s office declined our interview requests about the indictment and latest on the investigation.

Powell posted a $20,000 bond Saturday from the Brazos County Jail. He faces a state jail felony if convicted.

A criminal indictment obtained by KBTX Wednesday states he operated the boat in reverse near swimmers and failed to be aware of the boat propeller’s proximity to the victim.

We have our previous story about Olivia Paige Sweeney here.

Our initial story on the drowning can be found here.

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