George Pino — who was behind the wheel of a boat full of teenagers that smashed into a channel marker near North Key Largo and capsized in September 2022, killing Our Lady of Lourdes Academy senior Luciana "Lucy" Fernandez and leaving her classmate, Katerina Puig, permanently disabled — now faces a homicide charge linked to the fatal crash.
Filed by prosecutors on Thursday morning, the new charge comes more than a year after Pino was charged with three careless boating misdemeanors, to the outrage of victims' families.
According to the Miami Herald, the felony homicide charge follows the emergence of a new key witness: Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter Matthew Smiley, who was among the first professionals on the scene of the incident. He reportedly told prosecutors that Pino showed signs of being intoxicated following the crash.
While the misdemeanor charges (which have since been dropped by prosecutors in favor of the felony) carried a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, the homicide charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The Crash
Around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 4, 2022, a boat carrying a dozen teenage passengers was traveling down the Intracoastal Waterway near North Key Largo when it crashed into a channel marker and capsized.All 14 people aboard were ejected from the vessel, according to a preliminary report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC). Eight were reported as injured, four of whom were airlifted to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.
Lucy Fernandez died as a result of her injuries.
According to an FWC report, Pino and his wife, Cecilia Pino, were chaperoning the teenagers — many of whom were longtime friends attending the all-girl Catholic schools Our Lady of Lourdes Academy and Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami — from Elliott Key in Biscayne National Park to Ocean Reef, an upscale club community in North Key Largo.
Pino purportedly said he'd looked behind him to check on the girls after running across a large wake just before the vessel violently collided with the marker, according to a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue narrative.
While the FWC report's initial statement said alcohol was not likely a factor in the crash, 61 empty bottles of booze, including an empty bottle of Champagne, were found on the vessel after officers recovered it from the water.
A lawsuit later filed against Pino by the family of one of the injured passengers claimed he was drinking that day and supplied the teens and their friends with alcohol.
This is a breaking story and may be updated as events warrant.
