Florida real estate mogul accused of homicide in 2022 boat crash that killed teen girl found not guilty
Florida real estate mogul George Pino was found not guilty Monday of smashing his boat into a channel marker, leading to the death of a 17-year-old girl. The jury in Miami-Dade County found Pino, 55, not guilty of felony second-degree manslaughter and vessel homicide charges in the 2022 crash that killed Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez and left another girl, then 18, with permanent and debilitating injuries.He pleaded not guilty.The father and well-known Doral real estate broker had been hosting several teen girls for his daughter Carolina’s 18th birthday on his 29-foot boat when they crashed in Biscayne Bay on Sept.
4, 2022. Pino was accused of driving the boat at 47 miles per hour when it slammed into the channel marker, tearing a large hole in the side of the vessel and sending all of the passengers – including his wife, Cecilia, and 12 teen girls total – into the water. Eleven people were injured and six were taken to the hospital.Fernandez, who was reportedly trapped underneath the boat after it crashed, died from drowning-related injuries in the hospital about 12 hours later.The slain teen was seen in a heart-wrenching video taken earlier that day, dancing and singing alongside her friends on the boat to Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” Prosecutor Laura Adams previously told the jury Pino was more concerned with being “the cool dad” than with the safety of the passengers.“He was going full throttle with all these teenagers on board who have been consuming alcohol – as fast as he can through this narrow channel,” Adams said during closing arguments Monday. Furthermore, “he decides to travel down the wrong side of the channel.”“Because he was operating in such complete disregard for the kids on his boat, Lucy winds up like this in the hospital,” the attorney continued, and flashed a chilling photo of Fernandez in a hospital bed.“Nobody and no one is responsible for the death of Lucy Fernandez except for that man right there – he i...