Flanked by his daughter, Carolina Pino, left, and wife, Cecilia Pino, right, real estate broker George Pino acknowledges supporters as they arrive in Courtroom 4-1 for his surrender at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Thursday, November 21, 2024, in Miami, Florida.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
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The investigation into 2022 boat crash that killed a high school student
On Sept. 4, 2022, a boat operated by real estate broker George Pino crashed in Biscayne Bay, killing 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez.
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A neurologist examined George Pino, the Doral real estate developer who crashed his boat into a fixed channel marker, killing a teenage girl and seriously injuring her classmate, to determine if he suffered a traumatic brain injury that caused him to have amnesia and “false memories regarding the details of the accident,” according to a document obtained by the Miami Herald.
Attorneys for Pino consulted with Dr. Diana Barrat, a Boca Raton neurologist who is expected to be an expert witness in the case, according to the records obtained by the Herald. The defense attorneys hired her.
Barrat’s 18-page report — which is heavily redacted — was turned over to prosecutors on Monday. It indicates defense attorneys may plan to present evidence at trial about Pino suffering a traumatic brain injury as a result of the 2022 Labor Day weekend crash.
Among the questions defense attorneys asked Barrat: “[C]ould the traumatic brain injury have caused amnesia and the creation of false memories regarding the details of the accident?”
Her answer was redacted in the report.
Barrat assessed Pino on Feb. 2, according to the document. The doctor analyzed scans of Pino’s brain and reviewed several of his medical records.
Facing two felony charges
Pino, 55, is facing manslaughter and vessel homicide charges. Those felonies carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, although he can’t be convicted of both charges. He has pleaded not guilty on both charges.
READ MORE: Testimony of girls on boat leads to another charge for George Pino
Representatives for Pino’s attorney Howard Srebnik declined to comment for this article.
Pino’s charges are the result of the boat crash leading to the death of 17-year-old Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez, who was starting her senior year at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. The Sept. 4, 2022, crash also seriously brain injured her classmate, Katerina “Katy” Puig, now 20, a standout soccer player still regaining basic motor skills.
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Claims of another boat in channel
Pino told investigators that a larger boat heading toward his boat in the channel threw a wake and caused him to lose control of his vessel, hitting the marker in Biscayne Bay. Pino’s boat, a 29-foot Robalo, capsized, hurtling the boat’s passengers — 12 teenage girls and Pino and his wife Cecilia — into the bay.
Damage to the 29-foot Robalo piloted by George Pino, who crashed his boat into a concrete channel marker in Biscayne Bay on Sept. 4, 2022. The boat crash led to the death of Luciana ‘Lucy’ Fernandez, 17, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
But, nobody else, including witnesses on other boats in the crowded channel, and no one on his boat, saw that other vessel.
Pino is not charged with any offense stemming from false statements made to investigators or filed in a federal court.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state agency that investigated the crash, also determined that boat was likely never there.
Lucy Fernandez, a 17-year-old senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, was killed as a result of a Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash off the Keys. Miami
Upon hearing about the examination with the neurologist, Joel Denaro, an attorney for the Fernandez family replied: “Oh, so they’re going for the amnesia defense?”
The report provides a glimpse of what to expect at Pino’s trial in June.
In December, Pino’s attorneys said a hospital blood test showed that “no alcohol was detected” in Pino’s system. Blood alcohol testing — or lack thereof— has been at the center of controversy in the case.
READ MORE: No alcohol detected in Pino’s hospital blood test after boat crash, defense says
On the night of the crash, FWC investigators did not give Pino a blood alcohol test to determine his sobriety levels, even though they are trained to do so in boating accidents with serious injuries or fatalities. Investigators on the scene knew that four of the 14 people on the boat were airlifted as trauma alert patients by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, including Lucy, who died the next day in the hospital.
READ MORE: How investigators, prosecutors bungled probe into boat crash that killed teen girl
In addition, Pino told FWC investigators on the scene that he had “two beers” that day. The Pinos were celebrating their daughter’s 18th birthday; she had invited 11 of her close girlfriends — all underage — to go on the boat outing to Elliott Key in Biscayne Bay.
The FWC has maintained it did not have probable cause to get a court warrant to force Pino to take a sobriety test. But the FWC could have contacted the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, which has a prosecutor on call 24/7 to help officers get a search warrant, arrest warrants or court orders in these types of cases. In fact, the second page of a State Attorney Office’s slideshow for the FWC on vessel homicides gives the hotline number for the prosecutors.
The FWC didn’t call.
The day after the crash, FWC investigators pulled Pino’s boat from the bay and found 61 empty alcohol bottles and cans, including Coronas, Truly Hard Seltzers and Bud Lights. Also found: an empty bottle of La Marca Prosecco and a half-drunk bottle of Chambord raspberry liqueur.
Empty alcohol beverage bottles and cans are lined up behind the cockpit of George Pino’s 29-foot Robalo boat on Sept. 5, 2022, the day after he crashed his boat into a concrete channel marker in Biscayne Bay, killing Lucy Fernandez, a 17-year-old senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Despite this and despite no sobriety test done on Pino, the FWC concluded alcohol was not a factor in the crash. A Pino spokesperson has said the empty booze bottles and cans stemmed from the trash of other boats tied up with Pino’s boat at Elliott Key. The spokesperson hasn’t identified the other boaters.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 13.
This report will be updated as new information becomes available
This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 2:13 PM.
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.