The attorney of the man identified by investigators as the operator of the boat that hit and killed Ella Riley Adler in Biscayne Bay over the weekend spoke out Wednesday, saying her client is devastated.
Carlos Guillermo Alonso, 78, of Coral Gables, is named as the boater in a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report on the Saturday afternoon crash that killed the 15-year-old.
"This is the worst possible tragedy that anyone could imagine," Alonso's attorney, Lauren Field Krasnoff, said. "We are devastated for the Adlers, for their friends, for their family — there's no question in our minds that this is an absolutely horrific thing that happened and we pray for and think of their family and friends during this time."
Krasnoff said Alonso was boating by himself on Saturday. When police came to his door, he didn't know why.
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"We don't know at this time whether (Alonso) or his boat were the boat involved in the crash," she continued. "If his boat was involved, I can tell you he had absolutely no idea that that is what happened that day. He is as devastated as anybody could be."
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The one-page report lists Alonso as the only occupant of his boat, a 42-foot Boston Whaler. It doesn't mention whether he could face charges, and it's unclear whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, since the section of the report that mentions whether it's alcohol related is marked "unknown."
In a statement Wednesday, FWC officials said Alonso was cooperating with the investigation.
“He docked his boat in plain sight, and most importantly, he's been cooperative with law enforcement and with anybody that has needed to investigate what happened on the water that day," Krasnoff said. “He has had no contact with the criminal system. He does not drink, and he was not drinking on that Saturday.”
According to the report, 13 other people were with Adler when she was fatally struck, including the 30-year-old man who was operating the boat she'd been on, a 42-foot Hanse Fjord walk-around.
According to the report, Adler and another girl were being towed in an area of Biscayne Bay about a mile west of Mashta Point, one on a wakeboard and the other on a wake surfboard.
They fell off at different times and locations and were in the water when Adler was struck by the other boat, which didn't stop, FWC officials said.
