Jurors depart the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission storage yard in North Miami on Thursday, June 11, 2026, after viewing the wrecked boat belonging to Doral real estate broker George Pino. He crashed the vessel on Sept. 4, 2022, resulting in the death of Lucy Fernandez, 17.

Jurors depart the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission storage yard in North Miami on Thursday, June 11, 2026, after viewing the wrecked boat belonging to Doral real estate broker George Pino. He crashed the vessel on Sept. 4, 2022, resulting in the death of Lucy Fernandez, 17.

Carl Juste

cjuste@miamiherald.com

The six jurors in George Pino’s vessel-homicide and manslaughter trial took a road trip to North Miami on Thursday morning to view his boat, which was wrecked in the crash that killed a teenage girl and severely injured two others.

The jurors arrived around 10:30 a.m. in a black Dodge van, escorted by three Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies who drove them through a gate on Northeast 151st Street near Florida International University’s north campus.

George Pino arrives in a Miami court for his trial on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Pino is charged in connection to the 2022 boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. George Pino arrives in a Miami court for his trial on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Pino is charged in connection to the 2022 boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com

The gate was guarded by two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers. Along with the jurors and deputies, the caravan included prosecutor Laura Adams and members of Pino’s defense team, led by attorney Howard Srebnick.

The group left the property around a half-hour later.

The news media was not permitted to watch the jurors tour the boat, but were allowed to take photos and videos of it when the jury departed.

While at the storage lot, FWC Lt. William Thompson, who was the lead investigator in the criminal case, pointed to two parts that had green markings, Judge Marissa Tinkler Mendez told lawyers when she returned from the visit.

Pino is standing trial for the death of Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, who was aboard Pino’s 29-foot Robalo center-console boat when he crashed it into a steel channel marker in the Cutter Bank channel in Biscayne Bay on Sunday, Sept. 4, 2022. Lucy, who was 17, died at a hospital the next day.

Lucy Fernández Lucy Fernández The Lucy Fernandez Foundation

The crash also seriously injured two other girls, including now 21-year-old Katerina “Katy” Puig. The Division I soccer prospect now faces a lifetime of neurological and physical challenges because of the severity of her injuries.

George Pino, 55, and his wife, Cecilia, 51, took Katy, Lucy and 10 other teens out to Elliott Key from the Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo for a day of celebration for their daughter’s 18th birthday. They were heading back to Ocean Reef for dinner around 6:37 p.m. when Pino, who was driving on the wrong side of the channel, slammed into the marker at just under 50 mph.

The wrecked boat belonging to Doral real estate broker George Pino is made available to members of press after the departure of the jurors in the manslaughter trial of Pino on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at he Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission storage yard in North Miami, Florida. He crashed the vessel on Sept. 4, 2022, killing a 17-year-old girl, Lucy Fernandez, and severely injuring another teen, Katerina 'Katy' Puig. The wrecked boat belonging to Doral real estate broker George Pino is made available to members of the press after the departure of the jurors in Pino’s trial on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission storage yard in North Miami. He crashed the vessel on Sept. 4, 2022, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com

All the girls on the boat attended either Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Westminster Christian Academy or Carrollton School of the Scared Heart.

Katerina ‘Katy’ Puig receives a hug from her brother, Rudy Puig Jr., on July 2, 2025. Puig suffered severe injuries due to the crash. Katerina ‘Katy’ Puig receives a hug from her brother, Rudy Puig Jr., on July 2, 2025. Puig suffered severe injuries due to the crash. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com

The boat had a cooler full of alcohol on it when cops salvaged it from the water the next day, and some of the girls said they drank heavily on the day of the crash. Pino admitted to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigator that he drank “two beers” that day.

Investigators, however, concluded he did not show signs of impairment and that alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

This story will be updated.

Defense attorney Howard Srebnick delivers the defense opening statement in the trial of George Pino, who is charged in connection to the crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Pino is charged in connection to the crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Defense attorney Howard Srebnick delivers the defense’s opening statement on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com Prosecutor Laura Adams walks with a photo of Lucy Fernandez prior to giving the State's opening statement in the trial of George Pino, who is charged in connection to the crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Pino's trial began on Monday, June 8, 2026. Prosecutor Laura Adams walks with a photo of Lucy Fernandez prior to giving the state’s opening statement on Monday, June 8, 2026. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com

This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 12:56 PM.


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David Goodhue

Miami Herald

David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.