'None of us ever asked to be part of this kind of club.' Boat-crash families laud new law

Miami Herald

2 days ago

The parents of the teenage girl who suffered brain damage in a boating accident that took the life of her classmate described the anguish of seeing their daughter, once a star soccer player, lying unconscious in a coma for months.
'We used to pray for her to open her eyes,' Rudy Puig said of his daughter, Katerina 'Katy' Puig. 'We used to pray for her to move her thumb. We used to pray for her to just be able to eat.'
Rudy, Katy's mother Kathya Puig and Katy, now 20 and confined to a wheelchair, were among the people attending a ceremony Wednesday lauding a new state law that toughens penalties in serious boating accidents. 'Lucy's Law,' signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday, made reckless operation of vessels resulting in serious injuries a felony, previously only a misdemeanor.
The law, which went into effect July 1, was named after 17-year-old Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, who was embarking on her senior year at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy when she died in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash. Katy, 17, had been the captain of the Lourdes soccer team and was being recruited by Division 1 teams.
READ MORE: DeSantis signs boater safety law named for Miami-Dade teen who died in 2022 crash
Katy was one of three teenage girls who was found unconscious in the water after George Pino, a Doral real estate broker, crashed his boat into a concrete channel marker in Biscayne Bay on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Lucy, who was not breathing when she was pulled from the Bay, died the next day in the hospital. Katy had traumatic brain injury. Isabella Rodriguez, then 17, has since recovered.
'I am a miracle,' Katy told the Herald after the event at the Bayshore Club in Coconut Grove. 'I miss my angel [Lucy.]'
The tragedy shook the tightly knit South Florida religious school community, as all 12 girls on board the 29-foot Robalo attended Lourdes, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart or Westminster Christian School. Pino and his wife Cecilia were celebrating the 18th birthday of their daughter Cecilia, who had invited 11 of her girlfriends on the excursion to Elliott Key.
Lucy's father, Andres Fernandez, reflected on his family's loss and the challenges the Puigs face knowing their daughter will need a lifetime of care.
'None of us ever asked to be part of this kind of club, but here we are bound by heartbreak and purpose,' he said.
Andres and his wife Melissa founded the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, a boater safety nonprofit, which hosted Wednesday's event. Families of other boat crash victims were also present.
'Lucy's Law' challenged an outdated mindset that 'dismissed… and treated preventable crashes of little more than unfortunate mishaps,' Melissa Fernandez said. To advocate for the change, Melissa said she had to repeatedly relive the worst day of her life, but she did so to honor Lucy's legacy.
'You're not preparing for the loss of a child, but to lose our daughter in such a preventable way, and to discover there would be no accountability,' she said. 'How can this be called justice?'
Kathya Puig says Katy frequently says she wishes Lucy would be fighting alongside her.
'She's a fighter,' said Kathya, now divorced from Rudy. 'We have a better peace of mind…. I feel like this is going to save lives.'
Rep. Vicky Lopez, a Coral Gables Republican who sponsored the bill and has called for an investigation into the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's handling of the criminal probe into the crash, said 'Lucy Law' was the most important legislation of her legislative career.
READ MORE: FWC chair, Miami-Dade State Attorney texted about Pino boat crash, records show
'People deserve to know what happened that day, who's responsible for this terrible tragedy and to pay the consequences,' she said. 'Today's law will, in fact, ensure that both the Fernandezes and the Puigs get the justice they deserve.'
The two families were outraged when Pino, after a yearlong investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, was only charged with three careless boating misdemeanors by the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. Each charge carried a potential sentence of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
But after a series of Miami Herald articles detailed flaws in the investigation, including how FWC investigators never followed up with key eyewitnesses to the crash, a Miami-Dade firefighter at the scene came forward and told prosecutors Pino displayed signs of intoxication when he was pulled from the water.
The FWC did not give Pino a sobriety test the night of the accident. The agency said it did not have probable cause to get a warrant to force Pino to take a blood-alcohol test. But law enforcement can cite exigent circumstances — usually an emergency like a death or serious injury — to bypass getting a warrant in such cases.
READ MORE: Miami-Dade cop suggested FWC should do alcohol test at Pino boat crash scene, testimony shows
The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office reopened its investigation and charged Pino, 54, with felony vessel homicide on Oct. 31. Pino pleaded not guilty and is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in September. If convicted, he would face up to 15 years in prison.
During the ceremony, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez declared July 2 Lucy Fernandez Day in the city, handing the Fernandezes and their son Kevin a framed proclamation. Katy cheered as the family received the plaque.
'When we have events outside and it's raining, I feel like God is crying with us,' Suarez said.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava highlighted the efforts of the Fernandez and Puig families: 'We owe this to Lucy. We owe this to the others who have lost their lives or who have been gravely injured.'
Rep. Vanessa Oliver, a Southwest Florida Republican who co-sponsored the bill with Lopez, echoed Levine Cava's sentiment.
'They fought to ensure that reckless behavior on the water would have consequences, and they did it out of love, love for strangers that they will never meet,' Oliver said.