Day 2 of George Pino boat crash trial sees emotional testimony from Lucy Fernandez's father, 2 girls who were on the boat

The second day of Miami real estate developer George Pino's trial in the deadly 2022 boat crash case brought testimony from Lucy Fernandez's father and two of George Pino's daughter's friends who were on the boat when it hit a channel marker, killing Fernandez and leaving another teen seriously injured.

The trial resumed Tuesday morning with Lucy Fernandez's father describing the moment he last saw his daughter alive and when him and his wife were looking for Lucy at the hospital after the deadly crash. 

"She gave me a hug. And I remember it clearly because that's the last time I heard alive," said Andres Fernandez, Lucy Fernandez's father.

Fernandez then described the day of the deadly boat crash, Sept 4, 2022. According to the father, Lucy was spending the weekend with the Pinos for their daughter's 18th birthday celebration. She called her dad and asked if he and her mother would join them out at Billy's Point on a boat. They spent the day together before going their seperate ways. 

"We pulled out, we pulled close to Lucy, and we were very obnoxious, and we started screaming to Lucy, 'We love you.' And Lucy just looked at us… typical," Fernandez said.

Later that evening, Fernandez and his wife received a call that there was a crash on Pino's boat. When they arrived, he saw multiple girls all over the scene, but no sign of his daughter. They finally tracked her down to Kendall Regional Hospital, where the receptionist told the parents that Lucy was in such bad shape that they could not identify her simply from a picture. 

"We said okay. She has a birthmark on the side of her hip and she also has a necklace with her initial, LCF, Luciana Cristiana Fernandez, and her date of birth," Fernandez testified.

The Fernandez family members in the audience, as well as the father on the stand, were all emotional as he described the moments after she was identified by the receptionist. 

"We walk in and some nurse is performing some sort of CPR on her to try and keep her faint heartbeat alive. We have no doubt she was holding on for Meli and I to get there," Fernandez said.

Two boat victims also testified on their alcohol usage before the crash

Next up on the stand were two of George Pino's daughter's friends who were on the boat when it hit the channel marker, according to court proceedings. 

Camila Alvarez and Carolina Monterrey, both now 21, testified that they were drinking alcohol while on the boat celebrating Pino's daughter's 18th birthday on the day of the crash. They went on to detail the moments they were thrown into the water after the collision. 

A video shot by the teens showed them dancing in bathing suits on George Pino's boat. Alvarez and Monterrey confirmed that everyone was drinking throughout the day.

When a prosecutor asked, "Do you know what kind of drinks you had?" Monterrey responded, "Trulys!"

Monterrey noted they were consuming the drinks "one for one". Alvarez clarified the system, saying, "Let's say I'm on my first drink and my partner is on their second drink as well. Both of you finish number one you go to number two". When asked how many of these "one for ones" she had that afternoon, Alvarez testified, "I remember having 10."

Pino struck the channel marker while driving back through Cutter Bank, preparing for his daughter's birthday dinner. Twelve teenage girls, including his daughter, and his wife were aboard.

"I just remember a jolting kind of feeling, where I pop up, and the boat starts to capsize," Alvarez testified.

According to the girls, Lucy Fernandez, Katy Puig, and Mia Rodriguez were sitting on the same side. Monterrey testified that she is always scared of boats and asked to switch seats with Fernandez so she could sit in the middle. Fernandez, Puig, and Rodriguez were the ones seriously injured or who died as a result of the crash.

Alvarez recounted the immediate aftermath, saying, "Mia Rodriguez is covered with like blood. So is Ms. Pino. Ms. Pino is trying to hold her, but she can't."

Alvarez also described seeing George Pino after the boat had flipped. "I saw the boat completely flipped over. Top of a shell kind of. I just [saw] his hands kind of on the boat," she said.

The girls testified they were not wearing life jackets, but did not think Pino was unable to drive. Both girls remain friends with Pino's daughter.