DeSantis signs boater safety law named for Miami-Dade teen who died in 2022 crash

MIAMI — 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.

“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 Miami 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.”

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 before 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.

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 affected 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, Reps. 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.”