Jury finds Pino not guilty in boat crash that killed girl; Puigs decry verdict

A jury on Monday night found George Pino not guilty of felony charges stemming from his boat crash that killed a teenage girl, a verdict Pino’s supporters celebrated while victim’s family decried for not holding Doral real estate broker accountable.

Pino, 54, cried when the verdict was read. The jury, made up of five men and one woman, found Pino not guilty of manslaughter and vessel homicide felony charges in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash in Biscayne Bay. Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, 17, was killed, and Katerina “Katy” Puig, now 21, another passenger, was left with physical and neurological disabilities.

The jury deliberated for more than an hour.

Pino’s supporters sighed and sniffled when the verdict was announced. Loved ones of Lucy were stoic and quiet and rushed out of the courtroom once jurors were excused. Pino gestured a “thank you” to jurors and then embraced his friends and family while sobbing.

READ MORE: Jury deliberates: Was fatal boat crash just an accident — or was Pino reckless?

In a statement after the verdict, defense attorney Howard Srebnick said he was grateful that jurors carefully considered the evidence to reach a just verdict.

“From the beginning, we have maintained that the events of September 4, 2022, were a tragic accident, not a crime,” Srebnick said. “The testimony presented at trial, including unrebutted accounts from eyewitnesses who saw no signs of impairment, confirmed that Mr. Pino was not under the influence, was not operating the vessel recklessly and that he did everything he could to protect his passengers after the accident.”

After the verdict, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement that her office decided to charge Pino with a felony after determining that there was sufficient evidence that Pino’s actions were reckless, although the jury ultimately disagreed.

“Sadly, I know that this verdict brings no comfort to the Fernandez and Puig families who forever must live with the tragedy of what happened,” Fernandez Rundle said. “In a case like this, there are no winners or losers. Mr. Pino must live with what he did, while the Fernandez and Puig families will grapple with the consequences of his actions.”

‘Deeply disappointed’ by verdict: Puig family

The Fernandez family declined to comment when reached by the Herald about the verdict.

The Puig family released a statement Monday night saying they are “deeply disappointed by today’s verdict, and our hearts hurt for the Fernandez and Perez families, who continue to live every day with the unimaginable loss of Lucy.”

“For nearly four years, our family has lived with the consequences of that tragic day. We see Katy’s injuries every day. We see the challenges she continues to face, the strength she demonstrates in overcoming them, and the impact this tragedy has had on her life and the lives of those who love her. No verdict can change those realities.”

Katy Puig, now 21, was the captain of the Lourdes soccer team and a Division I recruit when the accident happened. She was found unconscious in the bay and had emergency brain surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital the night of the crash. She now uses a wheelchair and requires around-the-clock medical care.

During the trial, the jury was not allowed to hear about the extent of Katy Puig’s injuries.

READ MORE: ‘I’m a fighter.’ Survivor of fatal boat crash honored at Nicklaus Children’s ball

Birthday outing

Pino was taking his wife, Cecilia, their daughter and 11 of his daughter’s friends back to the Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo that night from an afternoon outing on Elliott Key. The outing was to celebrate the daughter’s 18th birthday. There was a dinner planned at Ocean Reef at 9 p.m.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Laura Adams said Pino operated the boat recklessly when he sped through the Cutter Bank channel at 47 mph, very fast for a boat. He operated his 29-foot Robalo on the wrong side of the channel and ultimately rammed into the steel marker, she noted.

The boat capsized, and the 14 passengers were hurtled into the bay. Lucy was trapped under the boat and died the next day in the hospital.

“This isn’t blowing a stop sign,” Adams told the jury during closing arguments Monday morning in Pino’s trial. “This is blowing into the stop sign while on the wrong sign of the road when you’ve been drinking.”

Srebnick, however, argued that the crash was a tragic accident — and did not amount to a crime.

“He may have committed human error… but that does not make him a criminal,” Srebnick said.

READ MORE: From sobbing outbursts to ‘staredowns,’ key moments of George Pino trial

The trial was one of the most anticipated in recent years due to Pino’s prominence in South Florida and because the investigation was controversial from the start.

Prosecutors reopen case

Pino was initially charged in August 2023 with three counts of careless boating, a minor misdemeanor carrying a minimum sentence of 60 days in county jail.

However, following a series of Miami Herald articles detailing flaws in the investigation, including police not following up with key eyewitnesses, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office reexamined the case and charged Pino with felony vessel homicide in October 2024.

READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl

Prosecutors added the manslaughter charge in early 2025 after several girls on the boat gave sworn statements to prosecutors and defense attorneys that they drank heavily from booze stashed in a cooler on Pino’s boat.

Pino told the lead Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator on scene that night that he had “two beers.” FWC investigators found 61 empty or partially empty alcohol containers on the boat when it was salvaged from the water the next day.

Nevertheless, Pino did not face boating under-the-influence charges. The FWC, which investigates all fatal boat crashes in Florida, never gave him a sobriety test or took his blood to test for alcohol the night of the crash.

His attorneys contend the containers found on Pino’s boat were collected from other friends’ vessels partying with them on the sandbar that day.

Critical failures by FWC: Puigs

The Puig family criticized the FWC’s investigation in their statement.

“We have long believed that this case was compromised from the very beginning by critical investigative failures on the day of the accident. George Pino was not administered a sobriety test, nor was a blood sample obtained.

“As a result, evidence that should have been available in a fatal boating accident investigation was lost forever,” the family said. “That failure deprived the prosecutors, the jury, and ultimately the public of information that may have helped provide a more complete picture of what occurred.”

One of the girls on the boat testified during the trial she saw Pino drinking that day, but others witnesses testified they didn’t observe him showing signs of intoxication before or after the crash.

Pino did not testify during the trial.

Another controversy during the trial was the reason Pino had given for crashing into the channel marker. Until the weeks before the trial, Pino told investigators that another boat coming at him in the channel caused him to lose control of his vessel and crash.

But, no one else, including the people on his Robalo or other boaters in the channel, saw that other boat. Months later, he made the same claim in a sworn statement in a civil case the Puigs filed against the Pinos.

However, in the weeks before the trial started, Pino’s attorneys filed a flurry of motions, including one that would exclude the jury from hearing about the other boat. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez rejected those motions.

During the trial, Diana Barratt, a Boca Raton neurologist hired by the defense, testified that the other boat theory was a result of Pino's memory being clouded after the crash. She said he showed signs of traumatic brain injury; the defense paid her $30,000 to review the case and testify.

Barratt, when questioned by Adams, testified that Pino’s brain scan was normal after the crash.

The Puig family in their statement credited the prosecutors “for their dedication, professionalism, and tireless efforts,” and said they did “an outstanding job with the facts and evidence they were given, and they pursued this case with integrity and compassion for the victims and their families.”

Nevertheless, their family and the Fernandezes are left with the permanent consequences of that day.

“Lucy is still gone. Katy’s injuries remain,” the Puig statement reads. “Two families continue to carry burdens that neither asked for nor deserved.

“While we respect our system of justice and the role of the jury, we profoundly disagree with the verdict. Based on the evidence presented, we believe George Pino should have been held accountable for the reckless operation of his vessel.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 6:51 PM with the headline "Jury finds Pino not guilty in boat crash that killed girl; Puigs decry verdict."

Grethel Aguila

Miami Herald

Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.