Tugboat operator in crash that killed three girls on Biscayne Bay gets 18 months

A federal judge sentenced a tugboat operator to 18 months in prison Tuesday for the Biscayne Bay collision that killed three girls attending a sailing camp, rejecting a lower punishment recommended by prosecutors and the defense because his conduct amounted to far more than a momentary lapse of attention.

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U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra compared Yusiel Lopez Insua’s operation of a tugboat pushing a massive barge with an obstructed forward view and no functioning lookout to driving an 18-wheeler truck on Interstate 95 “blindfolded or half blindfolded.” She said the deaths and the trauma inflicted on survivors demanded a sentence reflecting the seriousness of his negligence.

“This wasn’t a moment,” Becerra said. “Of course, it’s an accident. He didn’t intend to kill anybody. I understand that. But the enormous irresponsibility of it, for me, is just very difficult to set aside.”

Lopez Insua, 47, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of seaman’s manslaughter for the July 28, 2025, collision that killed Mila Yankelevich, 7, Erin Victoria Ko Han, 13, and Arielle “Ari” Mazi Buchman, 10. A Miami Yacht Club camp counselor and two other girls survived when the construction barge ran over their sailboat.

Prosecutors and defense attorney Walter A. Reynoso had jointly recommended 12 months and one day in prison followed by six months of home detention. Both attorneys told the judge that the victims’ families supported the proposed punishment. Becerra acknowledged that support but imposed the top of the advisory sentencing guideline range of 12 to 18 months.

“This was an accident that could have easily been avoided by just basic care,” she said, emphasizing that the fundamental obligation to see where a vessel was going required no specialized understanding of boating.

“Anybody who’s driven anything,” she said, “has to understand you gotta see where you’re going.”

Becerra also imposed three years of supervised release and prohibited Lopez Insua from operating any vessel or serving as a lookout during that period. She allowed him to remain free until noon Dec. 10 to arrange his family’s affairs before surrendering to begin his prison sentence.

Until then, he must wear a GPS monitor and remain in home detention, with exceptions for work and medical appointments for himself or family members. The judge recommended that he serve his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, while noting that the Bureau of Prisons controls his placement.

Before sentencing, Lopez Insua addressed the court in Spanish through an interpreter, accepting responsibility and asking the girls’ families for forgiveness.

“I know perfectly well that nothing I say today can change the reality of what happened,” he said. “But I would like to sincerely ask the victims’ families for forgiveness.”

He said he has three children, including a daughter close in age to one of the victims, and that imagining such a loss in his own family broke his heart. He promised never again to put himself in a situation where his conduct could cause a similar tragedy.

“The loss of a child is something no parent should suffer, much less in such a traumatic way,” he said.

Some family members and attorneys representing the families attended the hearing, but they chose not to address the judge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Gilfarb said.

Reynoso emphasized that Lopez Insua had sought to avoid a trial from the outset to spare the families further trauma. He said his client had no criminal history and frequently wept during their meetings.

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“We’re here because my client was the sole cause of this devastating collision,” Reynoso said.

The defense lawyer said references in his sentencing memorandum about the employer’s practices, coworkers, weather and vessel licensing requirements were intended to provide context, rather than shift responsibility.

“He doesn’t blame his coworkers or employers or the weather,” Reynoso said, acknowledging that Lopez Insua should have ensured someone was watching in front when his own view was blocked.

Gilfarb confirmed that Lopez Insua helped resolve the criminal case before a grand jury indictment and had met with attorneys for the victims to assist their efforts to pursue civil claims against others. The prosecutor said the recommended sentence had been explained to and accepted by the families.

“The loss of life here is immeasurable, with opportunities and futures taken.,” he said.

The collision occurred as Lopez Insua operated a 25-foot tugboat pushing a 108-foot-long construction barge loaded with material from a seawall demolition site on Star Island. He was transporting the material across Biscayne Bay to an empty lot on Di Lido Island, according to the factual proffer he signed with his guilty plea.

A deckhouse and crane blocked his view of the water directly ahead. No person aboard the barge had been designated as a lookout, no one was acting as one and there was no means of communicating with Lopez Insua from the deckhouse, the proffer states.

The sailboat, a Hobie Getaway carrying a camp counselor and five children, was heading toward Monument Island when the wind suddenly died, leaving it unable to move under its own power. The tugboat and barge continued toward it.

The counselor waved her hands to warn Lopez Insua, but he did not change course or speed. His cellphone was unlocked during the trip and showed activity on eBay and Amazon immediately before and at the time of the collision, according to the proffer.

The barge struck the sailboat, traveled over it and forced it beneath the hull. Three girls became trapped underwater, pinned by their life jackets against the bottom of the barge, and drowned. The counselor and two other girls escaped.

Becerra called the cellphone evidence troubling but said the central failure was operating the vessel without being able to see ahead. She also emphasized that the harm extended beyond the three deaths to the surviving children, the counselor and other campers who experienced the collision’s aftermath.

She said the agreed recommendation deserved consideration, but her responsibility required weighing the broader consequences for public safety, deterrence and respect for the law.

“There’s nothing I can do, nothing that the defendant will ever do that will make any of this right,” Becerra said.

The judge imposed no fine, finding Lopez Insua unable to pay, and no restitution after prosecutors said they were not seeking it and confirmed that the victims would be compensated. She ordered him to pay a $100 special assessment.

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This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 4:37 PM.