Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is conducting the search for a child who remains missing as of Tuesday after a boating accident in North Florida that killed three people, officials say.
The incident happened 8 p.m. Friday when an 18-foot vessel carrying eight people flipped. Three bodies, including one child, were recovered from the water. Emergency responders were called out to the scene after passersby reported seeing the overturned vessel with at least “four people on top … and an additional four people possibly underneath,” according to reporting from The Miami Herald.
No one involved in the incident was wearing a life jacket, officials with the U.S. Coast Guard told reporters.
A USCG diver searched under the vessel, but did not find anyone. Over 270 square miles were searched before the Coast Guard stopped the search. At least one body, an adult, was found Sunday evening. Early Monday, west of the Dames Point Bridge, the body of a child was found Monday morning.
FWC is still searching for the missing child along with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
No identities had been released as of Tuesday and officials have not yet released what caused the boat to overturn.
Leesfield & Partners
With offices in Miami, Orlando and Key West, Leesfield & Partners attorneys have gained considerable knowledge and expertise in boating injury cases. Over the last 48 years, our attorneys have handled boat explosion cases, amputations due to negligent supervision, jet ski injury cases and fatal boating accidents. In that time, our attorneys have built a reputation nationally as one of the top boating accident attorneys in the country. Operating out of a state that has been dubbed “the boating capital of the world” that has over a million registered boaters, Leesfield & Partners’ attorneys are no strangers when it comes to potential hazards on the water.
Headlines appear more and more often spouting the news of a fatal boating accident involving either alcohol or a lack of boater education. In an annual FWC report for 2023, the year with the latest available data, it was revealed that over 80% of boaters involved in fatal crashes had no formal boater’s education. Alcohol was a factor in 23% of the crashes, according to the data, and the main accident type was a collision with a fixed object.
Ira Leesfield Promotes Safety on the Water
Ira Leesfield, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, has spent decades litigating boating accident cases. In that time, he has seen firsthand the impact of such unexpected, wrenching losses on families and loved ones. The ocean and unpredictable weather events are nothing to be trifled with, and yet, more and more boaters head out on the water without the proper education or emergency equipment.
As South Florida resumes its typical 80 and above degree weather this spring, tourists and locals will flock to the marinas to board vessels for a day of fun on the water as they do every year. This is why, with long weekends such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July approaching, Mr. Leesfield periodically uses the massive exposure of his Miami office’s digital sign to promote water safety advisories. The sign, situated on the edge of U.S. 1, one of Miami’s major highways, displays posts to remind boaters to wear life jackets, check the weather and to never drink and boat in the hopes that these messages will stick with the people heading out on the water.
Recently, Mr. Leesfield released a statement in relation to Lucy’s Law, a bill proposed to promote boater’s education that was named after 17-year-old Luciana Fernandez, a high school student killed in a 2022 boat crash.
“The dangers from boating incidents are entirely underestimated as South Florida becomes more congested, drinking on the water becomes more prevalent and distractions from cell phones and other devices increases,” Mr. Leesfield said. “Important safety standards must be enforced on all watercrafts.”
Previous Cases
Previously, the firm represented a family who lost their 20-year-old daughter in a tragic boating accident. The young woman was a passenger on a boat being operated by a boater who was speeding at night in low visibility when he crashed into a concrete dock. Tragically, our client’s daughter was among the passengers ejected from the vessel and did not survive.
Through an investigation, our attorneys discovered that not only had this boater been speeding but he was also drinking the night of the crash. The firm secured over $1.3 million for the family in that case.
Another horrific boating accident case handled by the firm involved a minor whose leg was later amputated following an incident aboard a vessel. This incident happened when the adults in charge failed to properly supervise the children in their care. A substantial recovery was obtained for the child.
Leesfield & Partners represented a family whose son was hit and killed by a negligent boater who did not stop when he hit their child. The boater, also a minor, attempted to lie and conceal evidence when questioned by authorities. Neighbors who later testified at trial said that the minor was known to regularly operate the vessel recklessly and without supervision. The firm settled the case for over $1.7 million.
In another boating incident, the firm obtained a $935,000 recovery for an injured client.
The firm recovered $800,000 for a client injured in a boating accident involving a foreign resort.
In a drowning case against a boat tour company, Leesfield & Partners obtained a six-figure recovery amount for the wife of the man who drowned.
Bernardo Pimentel II, a Trial Attorney at the firm, recently settled a case on behalf of the family of a lobster diver hit and killed by a law enforcement officer in a boating accident.
