{"id":311451,"date":"2026-06-18T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311451\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:03:31","slug":"pinos-wife-girls-on-the-boat-testify-in-george-pino-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/311451\/","title":{"rendered":"Pino\u2019s wife, girls on the boat testify in George Pino trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"George<\/p>\n

George Pino reacts during his trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022.<\/p>\n

Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n

mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/p>\n

The investigation into 2022 boat crash that killed a high school student<\/p>\n

\n On Sept. 4, 2022, a boat operated by real estate broker George Pino crashed in Biscayne Bay, killing 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez.\n <\/p>\n

Expand All<\/p>\n

Two of the girls who were on the boat piloted by Doral real estate broker George Pino when it crashed, killing a 17-year-old girl, described the moments before Pino slammed into a channel marker in Biscayne Bay, saying the ride was like countless others they had been on as frequent boaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like nothing out of the ordinary,\u201d Claudia Portocarrero, 21, told Pino\u2019s defense attorney Jeanelle Gomez, during Tuesday\u2019s trial.<\/p>\n

\"Claudia Claudia Portocarrero testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

George Pino\u2019s wife Cecilia Pino also testified, recounting the day of the crash \u2014 and how it has impacted Pino.<\/p>\n

She choked up when defense attorney Edward Armellino showed her photos of the teen girls taken before the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve loved those girls since they were little,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Before the defense began presenting witnesses, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Marisa Tinkler Mendez denied Pino\u2019s motion for judgment of acquittal, which allows a judge to find a defendant not guilty without sending the case to a jury. Attorney Howard Srebnick made the motion Monday evening after prosecutors rested their case.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: State rests in George Pino\u2019s boat-crash trial after testimony about Lucy\u2019s death<\/a><\/p>\n

Such a motion is rarely granted and requires a judge to find that no rational jury could find the defendant guilty.<\/p>\n

\"Judge Judge Marisa Tinkler-Mendez gives the jury instructions regarding expert testimony during the George Pino trial on Monday, June 15, 2026, in Miami, Florida. Pino is charged in connection to the Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Pino, 54, is on trial on charges of manslaughter and vessel homicide in the Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash in Biscayne Bay. Luciana \u201cLucy\u201d Fernandez, 17, was killed, and Katerina \u201cKaty\u201d Puig, now 21, another passenger, was left with physical and neurological disabilities. Dozens of Lucy\u2019s loved ones and Pino\u2019s supporters tightly packed both sides of the large courtroom.<\/p>\n

Pino was taking his wife, Cecilia, their daughter and 11 of his daughter\u2019s friends back to Ocean Reef Club in north Key Largo that night from an afternoon outing on Elliott Key. The outing was to celebrate the daughter\u2019s 18th birthday; there was a dinner planned at Ocean Reef at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"Lucy Lucy Fernandez The Lucy Fernandez Foundation More girls on the boat testify<\/p>\n

Portocarrero, who said she is a cousin of the Pinos, testified that she had consumed alcohol, including a seltzer and beer, and was buzzed. Natalia Reed, 21, also said she had two or three alcoholic seltzers and felt buzzed while out on the sandbar. At the time of the crash, Portocarrero and Reed were 17, under the legal drinking age of 21.<\/p>\n

The day after the crash, officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state agency that investigates boating accidents, pulled the boat from the bay, and it contained 61 empty and partially empty booze bottles and cans. All the girls on the boat were underage. Pino has said the bottles and cans stemmed from the trash of six boats tied up at the sandbar.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: 61 booze containers on crashed boat in Keys \u2014 and parents outraged over minor charges<\/a><\/p>\n

Both Portocarrero and Reed, who grew up with Pino\u2019s daughter, said they didn\u2019t see Pino drinking \u2014 and that he didn\u2019t seem intoxicated.<\/p>\n

\"Prosecutor Prosecutor Laura Adams questions Natalia Reed as she testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Portocarrero said that when she opened her eyes, she saw Pino, who she believed to be dead because blood was gushing out of his head. Reed, too, witnessed Pino\u2019s injuries but added that she later saw him gripping onto the boat with his hands.<\/p>\n

When asked by prosecutor Laura Adams, Portocarrero testified that there was nothing in Pino\u2019s line of sight that would have blocked his vision moments before the crash. She teared up on the stand when Adams showed her a photo of Lucy.<\/p>\n

\"Claudia Claudia Portocarrero sobs as she testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com Pino\u2019s wife takes the stand<\/p>\n

Pino\u2019s wife Cecilia told jurors she and her husband, whom she has been married to for 25 years, saw the girls on the boat grow up as their two daughters attended the same elementary school, Epiphany Catholic School, as many of the girls. (She also said she was close friends with Lucy\u2019s father Andres Fernandez since they, too, attended elementary school at Epiphany.)<\/p>\n

Cecilia Pino said she and her husband have been members of Ocean Reef since 2004 and spent the summers there. The night before the crash, nine of the girls stayed at a house the Pinos rented on Ocean Reef.<\/p>\n

\"Cecilia Cecilia Pino testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The next day, she said, they went out to hang out at the sandbar. Cecilia Pino said she made sandwiches and brought chips \u2014 and that Pino packed the drinks, including alcoholic beverages.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Pino said she had, at most, two drinks and did not feel impaired that day. She said she didn\u2019t notice if Pino had been drinking because she was hanging out with other women at the sandbar. Pino, she said, did not appear to be drunk or buzzed. If he had been, she said, she would not have let him pilot the vessel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never put myself or any of those girls at risk,\u201d Cecilia Pino said.<\/p>\n

Recounting the moments before the crash, Cecilia Pino said she was on her phone, trying to send videos to the girls\u2019 mothers. After the impact, water started gushing into the boat, and she said she told the girls to jump into the bay.<\/p>\n

\"Cecilia Cecilia Pino testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. George Pino, her husband, is charged in connection to the Biscayne Bay boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Cecilia Pino also testified that she did not see her husband until she got on another vessel because she was \u201cjust thinking of the girls.\u201d The crash, she said, has affected her husband.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge after the accident was very different,\u201d she said, adding that he was \u201cvery depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cecilia Pino was also questioned by both the defense and prosecution about a statement she made in a court filing in a civil suit brought by the Puig family. In the document, signed under penalty of perjury, Cecilia Pino said Pino crashed because the wake of another boat caused him to lose control.<\/p>\n

No witness, including the passengers on Pino\u2019s 29-foot Robalo or in other boats behind him, saw what Adams has called the \u201cphantom boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked by Armellino about the filing, Cecilia Pino said she did not know what happened in the crash but wrote that because it\u2019s \u201cwhat my husband told me.\u201d But Adams grilled Cecilia Pino about her responses in the document, questioning why she would repeat her husband\u2019s claim. Cecilia Pino then said her attorney Andrew Mescolotto wrote the response. Mescolotto is scheduled to testify on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\"Edward Edward Armellino holds photos as Cecilia Pino testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Before finishing her questioning, Adams also showed jurors photos of the Pino family taken in December 2022. Pino was smiling in the images. Cecilia Pino testified that one of the photos was taken on a trip to the Florida Panhandle and the other for their daughter\u2019s graduation.<\/p>\n

Other boaters response to crash site<\/p>\n

On the stand, Hamlet Rodriguez said he was on the water with his wife when he encountered the capsized vessel. He testified that his wife shouted, \u201cLook under the boat. Look under the boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hamlet Hamlet Rodriguez testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Pino, who was hanging onto the boat, swam under the vessel, he said. Hamlet Rodriguez added that he dived in and helped Pino retrieve Lucy.<\/p>\n

David Rodriguez, who said he was among the first boaters to arrive that day, testified that he operated his cousin\u2019s boat at 70 mph, which was almost the top speed, to help the occupants of the capsized vessel.<\/p>\n

When he arrived to the scene, David Rodriguez said he interacted with Pino and helped rescue him. He said he did not smell alcohol or observe Pino being impaired, despite initially suspecting the crash was likely due to alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n

\"Attorney Attorney Mark Shapiro questions David Rodriguez as he testifies during the George Pino trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Miami, Fla. Pino is charged in connection to the boat crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez in 2022. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

On Monday, the state rested after calling a former member of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner\u2019s Office to testify about the extent of Lucy\u2019s injuries. Dr. David Fintan Garavan said Lucy\u2019s official cause of death was drowning. But the girl, he said, also suffered significant blunt force trauma from the impact of the boat crashing into the steel channel marker.<\/p>\n

Among the last witnesses prosecutors called was boating expert Lt. Paul Alber, who testified that Pino traveled the length of two football fields \u2014 going 47 mph \u2014 in the nine seconds before the crash.<\/p>\n

Alber walked jurors through Pino\u2019s trajectory on the day of the crash in a series of maps created from GPS data. Alber inspected Pino\u2019s Robalo and said he was contacted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the lead investigating agency, the day after the crash to analyze the boat\u2019s GPS.<\/p>\n

Alber was recalled to the stand by the defense Tuesday. Srebnick peppered Alber with questions about how the channel does not have posted speed limits and how the law does not require that passengers on the boat wear life jackets.<\/p>\n

\"Defense Defense attorney Howard Srebnick poses questions to Lt. Paul Alber, an expert in boating accidents, during the George Pino boat crash during trial on Monday, June 15, 2026. Pino is charged in connection to the 2022 crash that killed 17-year-old Lucy Fernandez. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 10:47 AM with the headline “George Pino\u2019s wife, more girls on boat testify for defense in deadly crash trial.” <\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Grethel Aguila<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

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.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Pino reacts during his trial at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Tuesday, June 16, 2026,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-311451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}