Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Fernandez piloted boat in fatal crash
Authorities say pitcher responsible for deaths
In the days after Jose Fernandez crashed his boat into the jetty at Government Cut, killing himself and his two passengers, a brokenhearted South Florida tried to protect the legacy of the beloved Marlins pitcher.
South Florida wanted to believe a spokesman from the Florida Wildlife and Conservation Commission when he inaccurately stated hours after the 3 a.m. crash that it wasn’t Fernandez’s boat and that alcohol had not been a factor.
After details emerged that Fernandez’s last hours included a stop at a popular bar on the banks of the Miami River where he and his friends had been drinking, a spokesman for the pitcher’s family insisted he wasn’t driving and told people to wait for the facts before jumping to the conclusion that he had been drunkenly piloting his boat.
Finally Thursday, South Florida heard a different version: Investigators concluded that Jose Fernandez — under the influence of alcohol and cocaine — was behind the
wheel when his boat slammed into the jetty off the coast of Miami Beach at 65 mph last September. The 32-foot center console Sea Vee, called Kaught Looking, ended up overturned, on top of the jetty.
Had the 24-year-old All Star with unfathomable potential somehow survived the violent crash, he could have faced charges of manslaughter, boating while intoxicated, vessel homicide and reckless or careless operation, Conservation Commission investigators said.
“Fernandez’s impairment and manner of operation caused the accident which resulted in his death and the death of his occupants, Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Macias,” the 46-page report concluded without equivocation.
Fernandez had a blood alcohol level of 0.14, above the legal threshold of 0.08, according to his autopsy. Macias had a blood alcohol level of 0.04 and Rivero had a level of 0.06, according to their autopsies, meaning neither would have been considered legally drunk. Rivero had cocaine in his system, according to the medical examiner.
Investigators used Fernandez’s DNA, found on the boat’s steering wheel and throttle, as well as fingerprints from the steering wheel, to determine that he was the driver, the report said.
The findings refute an assertion made by the attorney for the Fernandez family in the weeks after the crash that Jose Fernandez could not have been driving because he was talking on the phone when the impact happened, with his head tucked in a place to avoid the wind.
But investigators determined that the call with a promoter, who says he was discussing getting the trio a table at Ivy on South Beach, happened 12 minutes before impact. The boat’s GPS logs show it was still in the Miami River at that point, according to the report.
Family spokesman and attorney Ralph Fernandez, no relation, said Thursday in a phone interview that he still does not accept the conclusion that the pitcher was driving the boat. He briefed the family on the report Wednesday night.
He characterized the finding as a “stacked conclusion” and added that the FWC should have asked for assistance from more experienced forensics experts for “the most complex maritime incident in recent memory.”
A copy of the FWC report was provided to lawyers representing the families of Macias and Rivero before its release.
In February, the parents of Macias, 27, and Rivero, 25, announced they would file negligence and personal injury lawsuits in Miami against Fernandez’s estate, each seeking $2 million. Macias and Rivero were graduates of G. Holmes Braddock High School in Miami-Dade County.
“We want to emphasize that this accident was a tragedy for all concerned,” said a statement from Christopher Royer, an attorney with the law firm of Krupnick Campbell, which represents the survivors of Macias and Rivero. “Though fault has been determined officially, the families of Emilio and Eduardo are not vindictive and simply hope that an amicable settlement of the lawsuit can be reached ...
“The Rivero and Macias families have also lost their sons in the prime of their lives. Whatever happens, there are no winners in this matter, simply losses — those of the lives of three fine young men.”
The lawsuits set the stage for a long-term battle over Fernandez’s estate, which had more potential value than actual assets at the time of his death. He was on the verge of signing a multimillion-dollar contract worth far more than he made in his final season.
The death of the Cubanborn Fernandez rocked the baseball world and South Florida’s Cuban community, where he was especially beloved. He survived a raft voyage to get to the United States, and his charisma and enthusiasm for baseball and life made him a fitting representative of a talented hard-worker living the American Dream.
Marlins president David Samson issued a statement Thursday saying the investigation’s findings don’t change Fernandez’s legacy or his importance to South Florida.
“No matter what the report has concluded, nothing will ever diminish Jose’s everlasting positive connection with Miami and the Miami Marlins,” the statement said. “Nor can it lessen the love and passion he felt for his family, friends, teammates and all his fans in South Florida and around the world.”
According to the FWC report, Fernandez headed out alone on the Kaught Looking from the Cocoplum Yacht Club at 11:37 p.m. on Sept. 24. He picked up Rivero at Museum Park, in the 900 block of Biscayne Boulevard, at 12:22 a.m. The two cruised to American Social Bar & Kitchen, along the south bank of the Miami River, near Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami, where they met Macias, who lived nearby.
The trio spent an hour and 45 minutes at the bar, where Fernandez bought two bottles of Don Julio tequila and three other drinks, the FWC found. Macias bought three vodka drinks. They did a shot with a fan who came over and introduced herself to Fernandez. Later, as he was getting ready to leave, Fernandez invited the fan to walk outside and take a picture with the trio. That photo has been widely shared on the internet, labeled as the last photo of Fernandez.
The trio traveled up the Miami River through Government Cut and motored a half mile offshore before turning around and heading back toward land “at a high rate of speed,” investigators found.
The boat rammed into the jetty at 3:02 a.m., just 20 minutes after the three men left the bar. In the heavily damaged boat, investigators were able to determine that the throttles were in “the forward, full throttle position.”
The report revealed that Miami-Dade Fire Rescue divers found Fernandez’s body submerged under the boat, “pinned between the T-top and a boulder.”
Macias was found near the bow of the boat, submerged in a tidal pool next to the jetty’s surface. Eduardo Rivero was found underwater on the north side of the jetty, west of the boat’s stern, his head and chest under a boulder, the report said.
Those interviewed by investigators included Fernandez’s girlfriend Maria Arias. Just days before his tragic death, Fernandez publicly announced that he and Arias were expecting a child. The baby, Penelope, was born Feb. 24.
On the night of the crash, Arias told investigators, she and a friend had stopped at American Social around 2:30. They hung out with the trio for about 15 minutes, the report says, and told investigators Fernandez didn’t seem to be acting unusual or drunk.