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Girl Pleads Guilty To Pushing Friend Off Bridge In Viral Video

KATU

The case behind one of last year's most upsetting viral videos was finally settled this week, as the girl who pushed her friend off a bridge pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment.

Taylor Smith, 19, was seen shoving Jordan Holgerson, 16, off a bridge into a shallow creek 60 feet below in a video from last summer that was widely shared on social media.

Taylor Smith (left) was friends with Jordan Holgerson before the pushing incident last August.Taylor Smith / KATU

Holgerson suffered multiple injuries from her crash landing last August, including six broken ribs and a punctured lung, and told reporters she "could have died, easily."

She is still attending physical therapy, and being treated for anxiety stemming from the fall.

While Holgerson told police she did not want Smith to push her, Smith has insisted she was only trying to help her friend overcome her fears, and never meant to hurt her.

Warning: some viewers may find this video upsetting.

"She wanted to jump and she was scared and she had asked me to give her a push, and I didn't think about the consequences at the time," Smith told Good Morning America. "I thought she would be fine."

Smith settled the case in a Vancouver, Washington courthouse on Monday, pleading guilty to reckless endangerment.

While she could face up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine, the prosecutor recommended not to send Smith to jail over the incident.

Holgerson previously told NBC News she wanted her former friend to "sit in jail and think about at least what she did."

Holgerson injured several ribs after falling flat from a 60-foot drop.KATU

After the hearing, Holgerson told reporters she's ready to put the traumatic event behind her.

"I don't really want to wait for next Wednesday," she said, which is when Smith is due to be sentenced.

"Being done with this will help her close that chapter in her life," Holgerson's mother Genelle added. "We wanted a guilty plea. We just wanted a sentence too."

[H/T: ABC News]

What do you think of the guilty verdict in this case?

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