一个男人被告在2022年佛罗里达州的一次船只失事中杀害了他女儿的青少年朋友，被判船只杀人罪和过失杀人罪不成立。
乔治·皮诺，一个著名的南佛罗里达房地产经纪人，被指控犯有一项过失杀人罪和一项船只杀人罪，与劳动节周末的船只失事有关。
迈阿密戴德县的陪审员周一晚上开始商议，两小时内达成裁决。
55岁的皮诺选择不在通常情绪激动的审判中作证。可以看到他在宣读判决后哭着拥抱家人。
官员们说，这位两个孩子的父亲在2022年9月4日驾驶他的29英尺Robalo船，当时他在迈阿密戴德县的卡特班克海峡撞上了一个船标。
官员说，17岁的露西·费尔南德斯死于车祸中受的伤，机上的其他人都受了伤，包括皮诺、他的妻子、他们正在庆祝生日的女儿以及他女儿的10多个朋友。检察官说，其中一名青少年凯蒂·普伊格(Katy Puig)遭受了“灾难性”的伤害，现在需要全天候的医疗护理。
判决后，州检察官凯瑟琳·费尔南德斯·朗德尔(Katherine Fernandez Rundle)的办公室起诉了此案，她说她和她的检察官不同意但接受陪审团的裁决。
“可悲的是，我知道这一判决没有给费尔南德斯和普伊格的家庭带来任何安慰，他们必须永远生活在所发生的悲剧中，”她说。“在这种情况下，没有赢家和输家。皮诺先生必须接受他的所作所为，而费尔南德斯和普伊格家族将努力应对他的行为所带来的后果。这些家庭，在某种程度上，我们整个社区都受到了这场悲剧的深刻影响。"
检察官劳拉·亚当斯(Laura Adams)在周一的结案陈词中声称，皮诺那天犯了“一个又一个错误，一个又一个错误”，最终导致了致命的车祸。
她声称皮诺未能安全地操作船只，例如保持适当的了望，考虑到船上有多少人，以安全的速度驾驶，在撞上航道标志之前以近50英里/小时的速度驾驶。她说，在事故发生前，他已经疏忽了9秒钟，并在海峡的错误一侧行驶，他和船上的未成年人在事故发生前一直在喝酒。
亚当斯敦促陪审员做出有罪判决，认为皮诺“确实有故意行为，比如决定行驶速度和方向，这导致了露西的死亡，因为他操作那艘船的方式可以忽略不计。”
检察官还声称，他向警方谎称船只失事是如何发生的，称一艘过往船只的波浪使他失去了控制，尽管没有证据表明有另一艘船。
辩护律师霍华德·斯雷布尼克(Howard Srebnick)在周一的结案陈词中辩称，皮诺“犯了一个错误”，没有看到标记，但他表示，这并不意味着他是一名罪犯。
他认为，可能是因为坐在船头的青少年，皮诺对标记的看法“不太理想”，而不是因为他不顾后果或有意识地无视人们的安全。
辩护律师反驳了检方所说的撞车因素，称海峡没有限速，船上的其他人并不担心速度，皮诺喝了两杯啤酒，但没有受伤，也没有被指控酒后驾驶。
斯雷布尼克说，由于皮诺在车祸中遭受了“创伤性脑损伤”，他对车祸发生的记忆似乎不可靠。斯雷布尼克说，皮诺在事故中受到了脑震荡，并“失去了方向感”，尽管他能够找到并救出费尔南德斯，费尔南德斯在船倾覆时被困在船下。
辩护律师告诉陪审员，皮诺从未打算伤害任何人，包括费尔南德斯，她还是个小女孩时他就认识她了。
“一件糟糕的事情发生了，一场悲剧发生了，许多痛苦由此而来，”斯雷布尼克说，并继续辩称，“没有证据，一点也没有，在他的脑海中，他曾经想过他正在危及任何人的生命。”
在审判的开场陈述中，皮诺情绪激动，而斯雷布尼克讨论了青少年和家庭之间的亲密友谊，看起来心烦意乱，深呼吸。由于皮诺继续做出明显的反应，辩护律师的开场白被打断，陪审员离开了法庭，第二天继续开庭陈述。
在大约两周的审判中，陪审员听取了皮诺的妻子和几个费尔南德斯的朋友的证词，他们在事故发生时在船上，回忆了船倾覆时的混乱情况。
陪审员还观看了佛罗里达州鱼类和野生动物保护委员会官员的人体摄像机视频，这些官员首先对坠机现场做出了反应，听取了执法人员和好心人的意见，他们帮助并亲眼看到了参与坠机的船只。
费尔南德斯的父亲也作证。他去过皮诺和乘客在坠机前去过的一个沙洲。他和妻子去了车祸现场，他称之为“混乱”
“我们只是在尖叫，‘露西在哪里?’”她的父亲安德雷斯·费尔南德斯说。
他说，他们最终得知她被送往医院，并于第二天死亡。
Boat driver found not guilty in Florida crash that killed daughter's teenage friend
A manaccusedof killing his daughter's teenage friend in a 2022 Florida boat crash was found not guilty of vessel homicide and manslaughter.
George Pino, a prominent South Florida real estate broker, was charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of vessel homicide in connection with the Labor Day weekend boat crash.
Jurors in Miami-Dade County began deliberating Monday evening before reaching a verdict within two hours.
Pino, 55, chose not to testify during the often emotional trial. He could be seen crying and embracing his family after the verdict was read.
The father of two was driving his 29-foot Robalo boat on Sept. 4, 2022, when he struck a boat marker in the Cutter Bank channel in Miami-Dade County, officials said.
Lucy Fernandez, 17, died from injuries sustained in the crash, and everyone else on board -- including Pino, his wife, their daughter whose birthday they were celebrating and 10 more of his daughter's friends -- were injured, officials said. One of the teens, Katy Puig, suffered "catastrophic" injuries and now requires 24/7 medical care, prosecutors said.
Following the verdict, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, whose office prosecuted the case, said she and her prosecutors disagreed with but accepted the jury's finding.
"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," she 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.These families and, to some extent, our community as a whole have been deeply impacted by this tragedy."
Prosecutor Laura Adams alleged during closing arguments on Monday that Pino made "mistake after mistake after mistake after mistake" that day, culminating in the deadly crash.
She alleged that Pino failed to operate the boat safely, such as maintaining a proper lookout and driving at a safe speed considering how many people were on board, driving nearly 50 mph before he crashed into the channel marker. She said he had been inattentive for nine seconds and was driving on the wrong side of the channel before the crash occurred, and that he and the minors on the boat had been drinking prior to the crash.
Adams urged the jurors to return a guilty verdict, arguing that Pino "did do an intentional act, like deciding how fast to go and what direction to travel, and that caused Lucy's death, and because the way that he operated that vessel was culpably negligible."
Prosecutors also alleged he lied to police about how the boat crash occurred by saying a wave from a passing boat caused him to lose control, though there was no evidence of another boat.
Defense attorney Howard Srebnick argued during his closing on Monday that Pino "made a mistake" and didn't see the marker, but said that that doesn't make him a criminal.
He argued that it's possible that Pino's view of the marker was "less than ideal" due to the teens seated in the bow of the boat, and not because he had reckless or conscious disregard for people's safety.
The defense attorney pushed back on what the prosecution said were factors in the crash, saying that there was no speed limit in the channel and that others on the boat weren't concerned about speed, and that Pino had two beers but was not impaired and was not charged with driving under the influence.
Prosecutor Laura Adams shows jurors a photo of 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez during George Pino's trial in Miami, June 8, 2026.
Pool via ABC News
Srebnick said it appears Pino's memory of how the crash occurred is unreliable due to a "traumatic brain injury" he suffered in the crash. Pino suffered a concussion during the crash and was "disoriented," though was able to find and retrieve Fernandez, who had been trapped under the boat when it capsized, Srebnick said.
The defense attorney told jurors that Pino never intended to hurt anyone -- including Fernandez, whom he had known since she was a little girl.
"A bad thing happened, a tragedy happened, a lot of pain has come from this," Srebnick said, going on to argue that there is "no evidence, none, that ever once in his mind he thought that he was putting anybody's life in jeopardy."
George Pino gets emotional during his vessel homicide and manslaughter trial in Miami, June 8, 2026.
Pool via ABC News
Pino got emotional during opening statements in the trial while Srebnick discussed the close friendship between the teens and families, appearing distraught and breathing deeply. The defense attorney's opening remarks were disrupted as Pino continued to visibly react, and the jurors left the courtroom, with opening statements resuming the following day.
During the approximately two-week trial, jurors heard testimony from Pino's wife and several of Fernandez's friends who were on the boat at the time of the crash, who recalled the chaotic situation as the boat capsized.
Jurors also watched body camera video from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials who first responded to the scene of the crash, heard from law enforcement and good Samaritans who helped and saw the boat involved in the crash in person.
Fernandez's father also testified. He had been at a sandbar that Pino and the passengers had traveled to prior to the crash. He and his wife went to the scene of the crash, which he described as "chaos."
"We were just screaming, 'Where's Lucy?'" her father, Andres Fernandez, said.
He said they eventually learned she had been taken to a hospital, where she died the following day.
