MIAMI (Court TV) — Witnesses called on behalf of a millionaire real estate developer standing trial in the aftermath of a deadly boat crash described a perfect day that turned into a nightmare in an instant.
George Pino appears in court. (Carl Juste/Miami Herald)
George Pino, 55, is charged with manslaughter and vessel homicide after a crash in Biscayne Bay over Labor Day weekend in 2022 killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez, one of his daughter’s friends.
On Sept. 4, 2022, George Pino and his wife took a group of his daughter’s friends out to a sandbar on their boat to celebrate their daughter’s 18th birthday. Prosecutors have said that both Pino and his wife allowed the underage girls to drink alcohol; they have also accused Pino of drinking before piloting the boat back to shore.
When the group reached the Cutter Bank channel, Pino’s boat hit a channel marker. The impact of the crash ejected some of the passengers from the vessel before it capsized in the water.
Pino’s defense failed to convince Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez to dismiss the charges after the prosecution concluded its presentation of evidence. As the defense began its case on Tuesday, it recalled Paul Alber, a boating instructor, to the stand in an attempt to convince the jury that the marker’s visibility may have been compromised by the current and high tide. Alber was willing to concede the defense’s point that there was no posted speed limit in the channel, but insisted that posted speed limits are “the exception, not the norm” on the water. “There are speed limits everywhere, just not the way that we associate speed limits on the road,” Alber said. “There’s not a numerical speed limit for the Cutter Bay channel.”
Natalia Reed testifies in George Pino’s trial on June 16, 2026. (Court TV)
Some of the girls who were on the boat when it crashed came in to testify and denied that George Pino showed any signs of intoxication or operating the boat unsafely. “It felt like nothing out of the ordinary,” Claudia Portocarrero testified. “We were all just really happy and enjoying our time together.” Natalia Reed, who was also on the boat, offered similar testimony. “I had gone on the boat with Mr. Pino many times before the accident, so I don’t remember feeling it going any faster than our previous trips.”
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Both girls agreed that the crash happened suddenly and without warning. “I remember it coming out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it,” Reed said. “I believe I stayed on the boat, so I wasn’t ejected. I heard some voices to jump into the water from the boat, so I jumped into the water.”
“I just remember opening my eyes after the impact and seeing, like, a lot of white. And the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was George, and I thought he was dead. I just saw a lot of blood gushing and then my friends were telling me that I had to get out of the boat.”
As the girls got into the water and away from the boat, good Samaritans who saw the capsized boat raced over to help. “I saw the keel of the boat — the bottom of the boat — from far away, and I figured somebody had capsized or had an accident,” said David Rodriguez, who admitted to speeding up to 70 mph as he tried to get to the scene to help. After he got there, he said, “It’s like chaos. Like, everybody was screaming.”
A cellphone video shows George Pino standing on a boat after a deadly crash. (Court TV)
Hamlet Rodriguez was with friends in the area when he saw the commotion and came over to assist as people began to scream that someone was missing. At the urging of strangers, Hamlet Rodriguez said he saw George Pino dive under the boat and return holding Fernandez’s body. “I jumped into the ocean right away, trying to help him, and as soon as I approached to him, he passed me the person. I had no idea who I was saving,” he testified.
David Rodriguez said he was eventually able to pull George Pino onto his own boat. A video played in court showed the defendant standing on David Rodriguez’s boat, looking on as a helicopter dropped emergency personnel down to help the victims of the crash.
George Pino’s defense has argued that the crash was purely accidental and that the defendant acted reasonably and responsibly at the time of the crash. The defense said on Tuesday that they expect to wrap up their case on Wednesday.
