NEW YORK (AP) — The operator of a speedboat that capsized in New York Harbor over the weekend, killing a 27-year-old woman and her infant daughter, is due to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Monday.
Authorities did not immediately reveal the federal charge or charges brought against Manuel Hernandez, a 46-year-old New York man already facing state charges of reckless endangerment in the deaths of Sara Sanchez and her 5-month-old daughter, Antonella
Garcia.
It was also unclear who will represent Hernandez in federal court. Prosecutors said that although Hernandez faced state charges, it was expected that he would be prosecuted in federal court.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan federal prosecutors, said Hernandez was in federal custody and that further information would be provided.
The mother and daughter died after a 22-foot Yamaha speedboat overturned late Saturday near the Statue of Liberty. Police divers found them and they were pronounced dead at a hospital. Twelve other people were rescued before police arrived. The U.S. Coast Guard said they were in stable condition.
The New York City medical examiner’s office said Monday that the “cause and manner of death” of the mother and daughter was being investigated.
On Monday, the boat rested at the New York Police Department's harbor unit facility on Randall's Island.
Capt. Doreen McCarthy, the Coast Guard Sector New York commander, credited the rescue of survivors to “heroic, swift actions” by those who responded from various agencies, along with a good Samaritan vessel.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe campaign that began Sunday to help Andres Garcia pay for the funeral and other expenses for his partner, Sanchez, and Garcia, his daughter, had topped $25,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
Antonio Russo, general manager at Il Punto Ristorante, said Garcia was an “amazing guy” who had been working long hours each week as a waiter, driver and food-runner, to provide for his family here and in Colombia.
Diego Naranjo, a neighbor of Sanchez in Queens, said he first met her last spring when her son threw a ball into their backyard. After recovering the ball, Naranjo invited her son to play on a trampoline with his children.
“They were really nice people. You can see when a person is noble,” Naranjo said.
The last time he remembers seeing Sanchez was last Tuesday as she brought groceries into her home. He said he was shocked by the deaths.
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This story has been updated to correct that the boat was a Yamaha, not a Bayliner.
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Turbay reported from Little Rock, Arkansas.
