Family seeks $15M after fatal Biscayne Bay boat crash in 2023. Criminal case pending
The family of a 22-year-old man who died after being thrown from a boat that crashed into a fixed mile marker in the Intracoastal Waterway in September 2023 filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the vessel’s operator, who police say was heavily intoxicated, speeding and driving reckessly.
Eric Rodriguez, 25, was charged in March on one count each of boating under the influence/manslaughter and vessel homicide resulting from reckless driving — both second-degree felonies punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Now, he’s being sued by the family of Justin Sosa, the 22-year-old man who died that night, for $15 million.
Shortly before 11 p.m. Sept. 23, 2023, Rodriguez’s 2023 26-foot Sea Hunt boat hit the fixed Channel Marker 20 in Biscayne Bay, just north of the 79th Street Causeway, at 45 mph — in a channel with a 30 mph speed limit, according to both Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission police investigators and the lawsuit filed Monday in Miami-Dade County.
The near pitch dark conditions were made worse by torrential downpours that night, Sosa family attorney Justin Shapiro, wrote in the lawsuit. Nevertheless, Rodriguez, who lives in Miramar, continued to operate the boat at a high rate of speed, swerving in and out of the channel, police concluded based on analyzing the GPS data from his boat.
FWC investigators said in their March 6 arrest report that when the boat hit the channel marker, Sosa’s head hit its day marker and “stainless steel hardware,” and he was thrown toward the back of the vessel before being ejected.
The lawsuit said the “hardware” described in the police report was a metal rod sticking out of the channel marker that impailed Sosa’s head.
Rodriguez did not stop his vessel after the crash until other passengers told him Sosa was overboard, according to the FWC report.
Police rescue divers found Sosa’s body hours later at the bottom of the channel, the FWC report states.
“This preventable tragedy is a direct result of the defendant’s gross negligence,” Shapiro Tuesday in a statement. “We are committed to seeking justice for Justin’s family and holding the responsible party accountable.”
Rodriguez’s attorney declined to comment when reached by the Herald on Tuesday morning. He has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case, which is pending in Miami-Dade County circuit court.
Officers tested Rodriguez’s blood for alcohol around 5:20 a.m. the next day, and it was .79 grams per 100 milliliters of blood, just under the legal limit of .08, according to the arrest report. But that means his blood alcohol content was likely nearly .170 at the time of the crash, which is over twice the legal limit, the lawsuit stated, deducing people metabolize .015 milliliters of alcohol every hour after taking their last drink.
The other passengers said that Rodriguez had been drinking heavily ever since the boat left the Keystone Point Marina around 3 p.m. and throughout the day spent at Miami Marine Stadium off Virginia Key.
Officers found a bottle of tequila, two bottles of vodka and several cans of beer on his boat, according to the lawsuit. Several of the alcohol containers were empty, and officers said in the arrest report that Rodriguez “smelled like he had been drinking alcoholic beverages.”
“We are beyond devastated by the sudden loss of our beloved Justin and the very preventable circumstances of his death,” Justin Sosa’s mother, Danielle Sosa, said in a statement. “We are bringing this lawsuit to ensure accountability for Justin’s death and to bring awareness to the dangers of boating while intoxicated.”