Unlicensed speedboat pilot charge in infant's death after craft capsized in Statue of Liberty tour

Federal prosecutors have charged a New Jersey man in connection with a speedboat capsizing over the weekend during a night tour of the Statue of Liberty, killing an infant and her mother. 

Federal prosecutors said Monday that the boat was illegally chartered, overcrowded, and operating on multiple safety violations.

The pilot of the boat, Manuel Hernandez, was charged with causing the deaths of 5-month-old Antonella Garcia and 27-year-old Sara Sanchez through misconduct and neglect, each of which carry a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison.

Hernandez did not carry a license with the U.S. Coast Guard, was not aware of basic safety rules and told investigators that he had borrowed a friend’s personal vessel for the tour in New York Harbor, according to prosecutors as the Associated Press reported. 

The infant, Antonella, was not wearing a life vest because the boat did not have any for small children, prosecutors said. Hernandez had instead told Sanchez that she needed to wear a life vest and hold the infant throughout the tour, which ran hours long, violating federal regulations, according to prosecutors.

“Federal regulations and maritime safety protocols exist to protect the lives and wellbeing of passengers on commercial vessels,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “The defendant allegedly flouted those regulations."

The tour on Saturday began around 7 p.m., where the boat capsized after more than three hours into the journey, prosecutors said. They said that Hernandez had tried to speed through a swell, but the water swamped the bow, immediately overturning the vessel.

“This tragedy could have been prevented, and now a family is left to grieve the unimaginable loss of a mother and her five-month-old daughter because of his negligence,” said New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.

The tour had been organized through Zeus Luxury Rental Inc., which has had past issues like a boat catching on fire last year during a cruise on Long Island Sound. A Coast Guard investigator said in Hernandez's criminal complaint that the company does not seem to have applied for Coast Guard licensing.

On Monday Hernandez, 46, of Manville, New Jersey, arrived for his initial appearance at the Manhattan federal court, where he was not required to enter a plea and was released on a $50,000 bail. Both he and his lawyer declined to comment as she led him to a waiting vehicle.

The complaint alleges that Hernandez told investigators that he capped his personal boat tours at 12 passengers, but said he did not know the maximum capacity for the boat he used on Saturday. Hernandez said that he thought there would be 12 passengers on the boat, but ended up taking 13, according to the complaint.  

Hernandez was piloting a Yamaha AR210 and all 14 people onboard were thrown overboard, while commercial vessels and vessels operated by the NYPD, the USCG, and the New York City Fire Department came to the scene for emergency assistance, also according to the complaint. 

According to the filing, the bodies of the mother and infant were recovered by members of the NYPD and USCG, who were unresponsive and taken to a hospital in Brooklyn, where they were then pronounced deceased.

Christina Park is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.