NYC boat survivor held baby moments before she was killed with her mom: There was no time

A survivor of the deadly boat capsize in New York Harbor has described how she held the baby killed alongside her mom just moments before tragedy struck.Elizabeth Velez was handed Antonella Garcia to help the five-month-old girl’s mom Sara Sanchez, 27, try to fit her with a life jacket — even though prosecutors say there were no child-sized ones available, and the 14 friends on board were not made to wear them.“She was a very happy girl.She didn’t cry the whole way,” Elizabeth Velez told NBC New York of the tot killed with her mom moments later when the motorboat flipped off the coast of Liberty Island late Saturday.The group — including the baby’s dad, Sachnez’s 29-year-old husband Andres Garcia — to celebrate the birthday of someone in their church congregation.“It was a celebration, and it ended in tragedy,” Velez said.

“We celebrated, we sang happy birthday to the person, and well, it was very, very nice,” she said of the shared joy before tragedy struck around three hours into their trip.Suddenly, just before 10:30 p.m., the boat was caught in a swell and overturned.“That current came, and it was strong.I closed my eyes, and there was no time for anything,” said Velez.When she finally surfaced, she could see the rest of their group — except Sanchez and Antonella.The boat’s captain, Manuel Hernandez, is accused of knowingly operating the vessel with an infant on board without ensuring the child was wearing a life vest, prosecutors alleged on Monday.The vessel, which had a capacity of 10, was dangerously overcrowded and had no child- or infant-sized life vests, according to prosecutors.Hernandez was charged with two counts of misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death.He was not required to enter a plea and was released on $50,000 bail.If convicted on both charges, Hernandez faces up to 20 years in prison....