Latest news with #Lucy'sLaw
Miami Herald
02-07-2025
- Miami Herald
'None of us ever asked to be part of this kind of club.' Boat-crash families laud new law
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.
Miami Herald
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
DeSantis signs boater safety law named for Miami-Dade teen who died in 2022 crash
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Friday a boater safety bill named after a teenage girl who was killed in a Biscayne Bay vessel crash that also seriously injured her friend, and in which the boat's operator initially only faced minor charges. House Bill 289 was named Lucy's Law by its legislative sponsors 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. The main thrust of the law is that boat drivers whose reckless operation of their vessels result in serious injuries now face felony convictions, previously only a misdemeanor. It also boosts the penalties for providing misleading statements to law enforcement during a boat-crash investigation and boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill May 2 after a years-long campaign by Lucy's parents, Melissa and Andres Fernandez, to gain lawmakers' support. READ MORE: 'Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours 'This moment marks not only the fulfillment of a promise, but the continuation of a movement — one born from heartbreak, sustained by hope, and propelled by a shared mission to protect lives and bring meaning out of unimaginable loss,' the Fernandezes said in a statement via The Lucy Fernandez Foundation, a boater safety nonprofit they founded in honor of their daughter. The tragedy shook the tightly-knit South Florida religious school community, as all 12 girls on board the 29-foot Robalo that collided with a fixed channel marker either attended Lourdes, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart or Westminster Christian School. One of those girls, now 20-year-old Katerina Puig — a standout soccer player at Lourdes — suffered traumatic injuries that will likely require a lifetime of physical rehabilitation. The family, including Katerina and her parents, Rudy and Kathya, issued a statement to the Herald thanking the governor for signing the bill. 'We are overcome with joy and deep gratitude to Gov. Ron DeSantis for signing Lucy's Law. This is an emotional and profoundly meaningful moment for our family, and we thank him sincerely for honoring Lucy's legacy in such a powerful way,' the family said. The Puigs also praised the Fernandezes 'for their tireless dedication and perseverance throughout this journey. Your incredible efforts have been an amazing example of love and faith to us all.' An incomplete investigation Compounding the devastating loss of a child and the permanent injuries endured by another, was the way the investigation into the crash was handled by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which initially only led to three misdemeanor careless boating counts against the Robalo's driver, Doral real estate broker George Pino, in August 2023. The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office a year later reexamined the case after witnesses who had never been interviewed by investigators came forward disputing major aspects of the probe. Three of the witnesses — boaters who were at the scene in the aftermath of the crash — spoke to the Miami Herald, prompting a fourth witness to come forward. That witness is a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue medic who was on the scene, and said Pino appeared intoxicated when he pulled him from the water, according to sources. When Pino hit the channel marker at nearly 50 mph, his boat capsized, throwing all 14 people on the boat — the 12 teenage girls and George Pino and his wife Cecilia— into the bay on that Sunday evening of Labor Day weekend. They were returning to Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo after a day celebrating his daughter's 18th birthday on Elliott Key. Lucy was trapped under the boat after the crash and died the next day in a hospital. Katerina was found unconscious in the water along with another girl, Isabella Rodriguez, who has recovered. Pino told the FWC investigators that a larger boat's wake caused him to lose control of his boat. However, all of the witnesses — including those who were on his boat — as well as photographic and global positioning satellite data, dispute that claim. Last October, the State Attorney's Office dropped the misdemeanors and charged Pino with reckless boating resulting in death — or vessel homicide — a second-degree felony. Prosecutors homed in on GPS data from Pino's boat, which they determined contradicted his version of events prior to striking the concrete channel marker. But, in order to re-charge Pino, the Puig family had to agree to drop the careless boating count related to Katerina's injuries. That was because Florida law did not have a felony charge for the reckless operation of a boat that resulted in serious injuries. Had Pino pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors at any time before prosecutors charged him with the felony, his maximum penalty if convicted would have been 60 days in county jail and a $500 fine. He now faces up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of the vessel-homicide charge. His trial is scheduled for the fall, but the witness list has grown to dozens of people, meaning, with depositions, that's likely to be pushed back. Changes to boating laws Under Lucy's Law, reckless boating resulting in serious injury is now a third-degree felony, instead of a misdemeanor. Reckless boating resulting in death remains as a second-degree felony. And, anyone convicted of boating-under-the-influence manslaughter will be punished with a mandatory minimum four-year prison sentence. If the operator of a vessel in a crash that results in the death of a person provides misleading statements to police, that person could be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor under the new law. Lucy's Law originally contained another stipulation that would have impacted Florida's deeply ingrained boating culture regarding vessel safety training. Florida law requires those born after Jan. 1, 1988 — or those 37 years old and younger — to complete a boater-safety course before they can operate a vessel. Lucy's Law would have expanded that requirement to those older than 37, but who haven't lived in Florida for five consecutive years at the time they first began operating a boat. That part of the bill was stripped before the final vote. According to the FWC's latest data, in 2023, 83% of boat operators in fatal accidents had no formal boating education. The Puigs, in their statement also thanked the bill's sponsors, Representatives Vicki Lopez and Vanessa Oliver, and said that in a state that has more than 1 million registered boat owners and leads the nation in fatal vessel crashes, more needs to be done to prevent the types of tragedy that took Lucy's life and forever changed Katerina's. 'The need for enhanced boater safety and education is undeniable. It is our hope that Lucy's Law will help prevent future tragedies and save lives. Lucy's life was beautiful, and now her memory will help protect others. This law is a step toward ensuring that no family has to endure the heartbreak that changed Katy's life forever.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Help curb boating accidents in Florida, Gov. Desantis. Sign the Lucy Law bill.
On Thanksgiving Day 2019, my life changed forever. A speeding boat struck me while I was snorkeling. My right arm was severed on impact, and I caught a glimpse of it sinking onto the reef below. Both of my legs were severely damaged by the propellers, and my left wrist was badly broken. After miraculously surviving this, one of the first things I said after waking up from my medically-induced coma was, "I can make a bigger difference now than I ever could before this happened." As a marine biologist who worked at Loggerhead Marinelife Center at the time of my accident, I frequently saw the devastating effects of boat strikes on sea turtles, not knowing that I would soon endure the same fate. I often snorkeled off the coast of Palm Beach County, enjoying the beauty of the area's diverse marine life. On that fateful day, I was snorkeling off of the coast when a 36-foot speedboat directly hit me. The driver did not see my divers-down flag, a required safety device that was floating just a few feet away from me. GPS data from the boat recorded their speed at about 45 miles per hour at the time of impact. I firmly believe that my faith was what saved me and that God had given me an opportunity to help others through this incident. When I heard about Lucy's Law, I knew I had to support it. The bill is comprehensive boater safety legislation named in honor of Lucy Fernandez, a Miami teenager who was killed in a tragic boating accident. She was just a few years younger than me at the time of my accident; she deserved to live a long, full, and joyful life. The legislation, which currently awaits the governor's signature, has three main components. It requires the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to establish standards for online boating safety education courses. It also aligns boating under-the-influence with driving-under-the-influence penalties and creates harsher penalties for operators who leave the scene of an accident. Gov. DeSantis, we're counting on you to help prevent more of these life-changing accidents. I urge you to sign Lucy's Law. This legislation may not change what happened to me, but it can help protect others and potentially save lives. Florida is the boating capital of the world. We have pristine, blue waters filled with marine life, which my career is dedicated to preserving. Every resident and visitor has the opportunity to explore all that our coastal waters have to offer. But with that opportunity comes responsibility. According to the FWC, there were 659 boating accidents in 2023 alone and 59 of those were deadly. Education and training saves lives. Lucy's Law will save lives. Carter Viss founded the Carter Viss Foundation, a boating safety nonprofit based in Jupiter. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida bill could improve boat safety. Desantis must sign. | Opinion
Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Lawmaker calls for probe into FWC after 4 officers had video footage deleted in Pino crash
A state lawmaker is calling for an independent probe into the state agency that investigated a boat crash in Biscayne Bay that killed a 17-year-old Miami girl after the Miami Herald reported four officers had their body camera footage deleted amid the investigation. Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami-Dade Republican state House member, called on her colleagues in the Legislature 'to learn what exactly happened and why so this never happens again.' READ MORE: 'Lucy's Law,' named after teen killed in Biscayne Bay boat crash, passes in session's final hours The call for the investigation comes after the Herald reported that body camera footage from four officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — who were on the scene of the crash and were either in direct contact with or were near the boat operator, Doral real estate broker George Pino — has been deleted. 'I might understand if one of the officers had made a mistake but from what we now know it is impossible to assume that four highly trained officers could all have made such an egregious error,' Lopez said in a statement she posted on the Miami Herald's Instagram account. The FWC says the footage was deleted after the officers classified it as 'incidental,' not criminal, when they uploaded it into the FWC's computer system. 'Incidental' footage is automatically deleted after 90 days; footage from a criminal investigation has to be retained five years for misdemeanor charges and 13 years for a felony charge, according to the FWC's policy. 'Full investigation is warranted' Lopez said that it ultimately should not have mattered how the officers labeled their footage since it was the responsibility of the investigators to retain all of the evidence. 'And, assume for a moment that they all made a mistake they still had plenty of time to correct their error since body camera footage is not deleted for 90 days,' Lopez said in her Instagram post. 'It is obvious that a full investigation is warranted into what actually happened on that harrowing day.' The FWC declined to comment Friday on Lopez's statement. In her post, Lopez asked Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican and chair of the House Criminal Justice Committee, to lead the investigation into the FWC's handling of the crash. Alvarez's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Herald. Lopez co-sponsored a House bill calling for tougher penalties for boat operators in crashes with serious injury. The law will go into effect July 1. Pino, 54, crashed his 29-foot Robalo boat into a fixed channel marker in Biscayne Bay on Sept. 4, 2022, during a celebration for his daughter's 18th birthday. Pino, his wife, their daughter and her 11 teenage friends were thrown into the water after impact, and the boat capsized. All were injured, although Luciana 'Lucy' Fernandez, Katerina Puig and Isabella Rodriguez were seriously injured. Lucy, who was not breathing when she was pulled from the water, died in the hospital the next day. She was 17 and a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. While Isabella Rodriguez, then 17, has recovered, Katerina Puig —a standout Lourdes soccer player with Division 1 college prospects — suffered lifelong injuries and is relearning to walk. Katerina was also 17. The FWC's initial investigation resulted in prosecutors with the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office charging Pino with three counts of misdemeanor careless boating in August 2023. Pino pleaded not guilty. If convicted, the maximum penalty would have been 60 days in county jail. The agency's lead investigator quickly ruled out alcohol despite Pino telling him that night he drank two beers and officers finding more than 60 empty bottles and cans of booze on his boat the next day when they pulled it from the water. No evidence of other boat in channel coming toward him Pino also maintains another boat coming his way in the channel threw a wake and caused him to hit the channel marker. The FWC, in its final report, stated no witnesses — including the people on his boat or boaters in the channel that day — saw that vessel. Photographic evidence also does not support his claim. Following a series of Miami Herald articles detailing flaws in the investigation, including FWC officers never following up with eyewitnesses, a Miami-Dade firefighter at the scene that day spoke to the State Attorney's Office and said Pino displayed signs of intoxication that day. Prosecutors reopened their investigation and charged Pino with felony vessel homicide on Oct. 31. Pino pleaded not guilty and is tentatively scheduled to stand trial in September. He now faces 15 years in prison if convicted. 'If we don't get justice, it will be because of the way the FWC investigated this,' Lopez said in an interview Friday with the Miami Herald. Lopez said the probe should be independent of the FWC and look into whether there are fundamental problems with the way the state agency trains its officers. 'You don't expect law enforcement to make these types of egregious errors,' Lopez told the Herald. 'We are past being shocked, and we are now demanding answers.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Governor, sign Lucy's Law. Florida must get boater safety laws right to avoid tragedies
I recently read Melissa and Andy Fernandez's heart-wrenching Op-Ed in the Miami Herald about the day they lost their daughter Lucy to a boating tragedy more than two years ago. Their words send me right back to the day, almost a year ago, when we lost my daughter Caitlyn's friend, Ella Adler, a student at Ransom Everglades School. The day they described sounded heartbreakingly familiar. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the water was glistening. My husband and I had spent the morning on our boat with two of our three children. Caitlyn, our oldest and almost 15 at the time, was also out on the water with eight of her closest friends. Later that afternoon, I was driving our younger daughter to a party when I got a call from Caitlyn from the boat she was on. It was devastating. I can still hear the terror and hysteria in her voice. 'Ella! Ella! Ella!' She was on speakerphone. I tried to calm her down to understand what had happened. The kids had been wakesurfing when another boat approached at a high speed. The oncoming boat didn't hear the blaring horn or see the girls in the water. It just swerved, hit Ella and sped away. In 2013, more than a decade before this fateful day, the daughter of Key Biscayne's police chief was run over by a boat at the Mashta Flats and nearly died. Afterward, the entire community rallied around boat safety. We had the facts, common-sense solutions and an entire village government behind us. We also had the support of a local foundation, the Monica Burguera Foundation, which sponsors boating certification and safety in memory of Monica, who was killed in 2006 on Biscayne Bay coming back from the Columbus Day Regatta when a boat being towed without lights was a struck by another. But the short story is that we weren't successful — or even close. The long story is that we ran up against a regulatory morass of competing federal, state and local jurisdictions and an industry that refuses to accept even the most basic regulation around licensing and enforcement. The first anniversary of Ella's death is approaching, and it's tragic that it has taken this long for sensible regulations to become reality. We need stronger and more impactful boating safety enforcement. There is too much drinking and boating. We need licensing for everyone, not just those born after 1988. The drivers of the boats that killed Ella and Lucy were much older and wouldn't qualify under current licensing laws. The good news is that, guided by Lucy's parents, the Florida House and Senate have passed Lucy's Law. The law enhances boater safety and increases penalties for dangerous boating. Lucy's Law is the product of an incredible amount of work and an important step forward. In addition, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, alongside the Lucy Fernandez Foundation, has created a special Boater Safety and Bay Education Task Force to educate the public on safe and responsible recreation. I am hopeful these actions will help prevent another unnecessary tragedy. I urge Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign Lucy's Law. Until there is a change, we will continue to lose bright lights — like Ella, Lucy and Monica — who I know would have made our world a better place. Melissa White is the executive director of the Key Biscayne Community Foundation and a resident of Key Biscayne.
