A woman died Tuesday morning while scuba diving with a commercial scuba vessel in the Florida Keys, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
The 56-year-old woman, identified at Andreas Shultz of Tallahassee, was diving at Molasses Reef off Key Lago. Just before 10 a.m., she was found unconscious in the water and was rushed to shore.
Shultz died enroute to shore while others on the boat performed CPR, according to local reporting.
A tractor-trailer driver who faces felony charges in the August 2023 crash in Nebraska that killed a woman and her young son, 8, is now being accused of using Snapchat as he crashed, according to reporting from the Miami Herald.
Justin Zoerb, 22, was charged with two counts of motor vehicle homicide and one count of reckless driving following the Clay County, Nebraska, crash on Aug. 9, 2023.
The crash happened around 4 p.m., killing 8-year-old Ryker Schlichtman and Nicole Pavelka, 30. Three other children in the family were hospitalized for their injuries but lived.
Following a $35 million renovation, La Concha in Key West has recently joined Marriott’s “Autograph Collection,” a signifier of upscale properties within the Marriot International portfolio.
The 160-room hotel, formerly known as Crowne Plaza La Concha, was under construction since at least October of last year and now features a refurbished bar, hotel lobby and restaurant. Included in the renovation were upgrades to the outside of the hotel, rooms, the pool area and meeting spaces.
While the addition of an upscale lodging property is a positive development for Key West’s thriving tourist economy, which welcomes millions of visitors annually, guests should remain cautious.
November has remained busy for Leesfield & Partners in Key West events.
Over the weekend in the Keys, Leesfield & Partners attorneys Justin B. Shapiro, Carlos A. Fabano and Evan Robinson attended the career celebration and retirement party for 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Luis Garcia.
Leesfield & Partners at dinner on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, honoring Judge Luis Garcia.
About eight cases of Legionnaires’ Disease have been reported recently in Lee County, tallying 48 cases so far this year within the Southwest Florida community.
About three of the eight occurred within the same neighborhood after three women were reported to have pulled weeds in their garden, according to reporting from local news outlets. Two of the women have since died.
Information about how the women were infected was not immediately available.
Dexter Butler, 38, was a pillar of his community in Key West, positively impacting the lives of his high school students, the young men on his basketball team and all who knew him.
With a planned athletic scholarship to be awarded in his name, Butler will be afforded the opportunity to continue doing just that for his students.
“Coach Dex” and Butler’s Legacy
This week, a tragic parasailing incident took the life of 36-year-old Nicholas Hayward and critically injured 28-year-old Azalea Silva. This is a very sad reminder that Florida laws regulating – or attempting to regulate – the parasailing industry are still utterly inadequate and do not protect life. A very similar case was handled by Leesfield & Partners in 2007, which resulted in the passage of the very first law of its kind in the state of Florida. Ira Leesfield and Leesfield & Partners have been at the forefront of this issue, and it is time for reform.
The Miami Herald has reported on the latest incident that the commercial boat used to launch tourists up their parasail was operated by Sunset Watersports. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which investigates all boating accidents, has already stated that “severe weather [was] a contributing factor with this boating accident.” The spokesman for FWC, Officer Bobby Dube, described to reporters that the boat was operating in the middle of “harsh weather” when the incident occurred at around noon. Dube added that the incident took place as the duo began their ascent, they apparently fell very quickly and crashed in the water.
Regulation of the Florida parasailing industry is very light. The Amber May Law came into effect on October 1, 2014. It was named after Amber May, a young teenager who perished in a similar parasailing incident in 2007 in Broward County. Amber and her younger sister were also sent in the air as a duo in the middle of severe weather. Neither the small boat nor the rope could resist the high winds, and ultimately the rope snapped. The girls were catapulted against nearby buildings and hotels. Crystal, Amber May’s sister, lost her best friend and sustained a traumatic brain injury in an incident that was 100% preventable. Leesfield & Partners filed suit against multiple defendants immediately and secured a settlement on behalf of the family.
On March 10, 2016, Leesfield & Partners co-sponsored the Monroe County Bar Association luncheon honoring Appellate Judge Ed Scales. The overflow luncheon crowd warmly received Judge Scales’ analysis of recent appellate decisions. This event, which coincided with Spring Break, marks the 40th year founding partner Ira Leesfield has worked with lawyers and clients in the Florida Keys. Says Leesfield, “I was overwhelmed by the activity, congestion and crowds surrounding Spring break in the Florida Keys.” “Unfortunately, drinking, combined with driving, mopeds, bicycles and all water sport activities, is not always a safe combination,” noted attorneys with the firm who recently obtained a $41 million verdict against a local resort for negligent security.
Ira Leesfield‘s career began in Key West with a $2 million medical negligence recovery against a Florida Keys hospital, followed by a $2.1 verdict for a motor vehicle/moped collision (Kemp v. AMR). In addition to settlements for medical malpractice, negligent security, water jet ski and boating safety, moped, bicycle and street safety, Leesfield & Partners holds record verdicts for settlements in Key West and throughout the Florida Keys. These results include the crash of a tourist stunt plane in Marathon, resulting in the death of a young mother with two children.
Following catastrophic injuries to bicycle and moped operators, the firm has aggressively pushed the “Share the Road” campaign, as well as supporting Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and boating safety.
Key West Injury Lawyer Blog