Man believed to have been driving boat that hit, killed Florida teen identified

The boater who is accused of hitting and killing a Florida teenager who had fallen into the water while wakeboarding said he had “no knowledge” of the accident and is “devastated” to learn he may have been involved, his attorney said Thursday.

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The boat’s owner, Carlos Guillermo Alonso, 78, of Coral Gables, was operating the boat when Ella Adler, 15, was struck and killed near Nixon Beach in Key Biscayne on Saturday, according to an incident report obtained by The Palm Beach Post.

The boat that hit the teen did not stop to help, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. FWC seized the boat on Wednesday. According to authorities, Alonso is cooperating with investigators, FWC said.

According to Alonso’s lawyer, Lauren Krasnoff, the man is devastated over the incident.

“This is the worst possible tragedy and before saying anything else, we want to express our deepest sympathies to Ella Adler’s family and friends,” Krasnoff said.

“Because this is an ongoing investigation with which he is fully cooperating, he will not be making any statements to the media other than to say that he was beyond devastated to learn that he may have been involved in this awful tragedy,” she continued.

No charges have been announced in the case. It is unknown if alcohol was a factor, but in a statement shared by Local10.com, Krasnoff said Alonso does not drink.

Investigators told the Post Tuesday that it was unclear if Alonso knew Adler was there or was hit.

“I will tell you that Bill (the name Alonso goes by), who has been boating for 50 years and is a very experienced boater who knows these waters, was out boating by himself on Saturday,” Krasnoff said in the statement.

“He has no knowledge whatsoever of having been involved in this accident. If he hit Ella that day, he certainly did not know it. Had Bill thought he hit anything, he absolutely would have stopped. But he did not at any point think that he had hit anything, let alone a person.

“He docked his boat in plain sight right behind his house,” she said, “and did not even know there was an accident on the water that day until officers showed up at his door.”

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