A Cuban millionaire is responsible for the accident that occurred last Saturday in Biscayne Bay, Miami, where a 15-year-old girl died while water skiing.
Carlos Guillermo Alonso, 78, who arrived in the United States in the 1960s through Operation Pedro Pan, has been identified as the pilot of the boat that hit the girl and then fled.
Alonso, a businessman in the technology sector, leads Technical Systems & Equipment Corp., a company located in Doral specializing in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems founded by him in 1979. His wife, Magaly Alonso, is the vice president.
As confirmed by the Miami Herald, the company has a second office in Palm Beach Gardens. The couple runs other businesses.
The Alonso family has two children and several grandchildren, and they are the owners of a huge mansion valued between 3.5 and 4 million dollars in Coral Gables, in the exclusive Hammock Oaks, a gated community with private schools and lakes.
The residence, about 5,600 square feet, has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a pool, and its own dock. There, his 42-foot Boston Whaler boat was found, which was seized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
Authorities confirmed that it was Alonso who crashed into and killed Ella Adler, a 15-year-old first-year student at Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove. The elderly man was the only person on board the boat and did not stop after the accident, according to the FWC report.
The girl, from Miami Beach, was that day celebrating a birthday with several friends. She fell off her wakeboard a mile off the coast and while being towed by another boat, she was struck by the Cuban's Boston Whaler.
"She was waiting to be picked up by her boat, wearing a life jacket and with her wakeboard still attached, when another boat hit her. She died from her injuries," officer George Reynaud told ABC.
Lauren Field Krasnoff, Alonso's lawyer, told NBC Miami that he did not know what happened until the authorities showed up at his house.
"We don't know at this time if Carlos or his boat were involved in the accident. If his boat was involved, I can tell you that he had no idea what happened that day. He is devastated," he stressed.
"He docked his boat in plain sight, and most importantly, he has cooperated with the authorities and anyone who has needed to investigate what happened in the water that day," he said.
Krasnoff stated that Alonso is a "navigator with a lot of experience who knows these waters," who in 50 years has never committed any crime. "He does not drink and he did not drink that Saturday," he said.
Ella Adler was the granddaughter of Michael Adler, the United States Ambassador to Belgium, who in the past was the president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and vice president of the Board of Directors of Florida International University.
The young woman was a dancer and performed in over 100 presentations of The Nutcracker by the Miami City Ballet and was also part of the dance team in Ransom.
The First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, met with the Adlers on Tuesday.
"We feel honored that the First Lady has reached out to our family during this time of immense pain. We are touched by her support and love...", the family expressed in a statement.
During the investigation into the death of the teenager, a reward of up to $20,000 was offered for information about the boat or its owner. The FWC and the Miami-Dade Police also offered up to $5,000, and the victim's family offered another $10,000.
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