The wife of Florida real estate magnate George Pino has been ordered to pay $16 million to the family of a teenager injured during a boat accident that occurred while her husband was driving.
Kathya and Rodolfo Puig, Katerina Puig’s parents, filed a lawsuit against the boat’s owners, George and Cecilia Pino, involved in the September 4, 2022 incident that left their daughter disabled.
George, 53, was driving a 29-foot Robalo boat with 13 other people on board, including his daughter Cecilia Lianne Pino, when it crashed into a channel marker in the Upper Keys near Boca Chita Key, killing Lucy Fernandez, 17. years.
The Puigs sued the Pinos for negligence, alleging that George was drinking before the accident and that they had provided alcohol to the teenagers on board.
Cecilia, 49, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Migna Sánchez-Llorens to pay Puig’s $16 million with 0.934 percent interest on Friday.
Katerina Puig’s parents (pictured) filed a lawsuit against the boat’s owners, George and Cecilia Pino, involved in the September 4, 2022 incident that left their daughter disabled.
Katerina (pictured in a wheelchair), now 19, was left disabled and unable to live independently.
George, 53, was driving a 29-foot Robalo boat with 13 other people on board, including his daughter Cecilia Lianne Pino, when he crashed into a channel marker in the Upper Keys, near Boca Chita Key.
Cecilia Pino (pictured), 49, was ordered by Circuit Court Judge Migna Sánchez-Llorens to pay Puig’s $16 million with 0.934 percent interest on Friday.
Katerina, now 19, was left disabled and unable to live independently, according to the The Miami Herald.
He was studying his last year at the Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Academy, which Fernández attended, and played on the soccer team.
Most of the other girls attended the same high school as Pino’s daughter, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami.
The Pinos had taken their daughter and her friends on the boat and were heading back to land when the accident occurred.
Some of the boaters were able to escape without serious injury. They are seen in the images with white towels covering their bodies and heads as they walked to be evaluated.
The uninjured 17-year-olds included: Sarah Emily Gutiérrez, Camila Victoria Álvarez, Paula García, Natalia Elena Reed, Claudia Porto Carrero, Carolina Monterrey and Andrea Knoepffler.
According to a report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 61 empty alcohol bottles and cans, an empty champagne bottle and a half-consumed liquor bottle were found on the boat.
No one admitted to consuming alcohol and George refused to take a blood test at the scene because he did not have an attorney present.
George Ignacio Pino, 52, was identified as the driver of the boat and refused to take a blood test at the scene.
The boat capsized and all 14 people on board ended up in the water.
A report said 61 empty alcohol bottles and cans, an empty champagne bottle and a half-consumed liquor bottle were found on the ship. In the photo: interior damage to the ship.
Lucy Fernández (pictured), 17, was murdered on September 4, 2022 after being thrown into the water
The report stated that alcohol was not considered a contributing factor in the crash and George showed no signs of impairment when officers arrived at the scene.
The commission’s investigation determined that George was driving the boat at a speed of 45 to 47 mph, which was a factor in the accident.
George has been charged with three misdemeanors of careless boating, to which he has pleaded not guilty, reported NBCMiami.
The Puigs and George settled for an undisclosed amount in February, according to court documents.
George and Cecilia work for State Street Realty, and in a motion to determine the confidentiality of court records, the Pinos said media coverage of the accident had been hurting their business.