Tugboat captain pleads guilty over Biscayne Bay sailing camp crash that killed 3 girls

MIAMI — A 46-year-old tugboat captain pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge stemming from the Biscayne Bay crash that killed three girls in Miami.

Read more Broward ex-youth pastor accused of causing daughter’s death during DUI crash faces charges

Yusiel Lopez Insua will not be going to trial in the case of the deaths of 7-year-old Mila Yankelevich, 10-year-old Arielle Buchman, and 13-year-old Erin Ko Han, according to his defense.

Lopez Insua had been charged with seaman’s manslaughter after the July 28, 2025, collision off Hibiscus Island as the girls participated in a youth sailing camp.

“The case will be worked out,” Walter Reynoso, Insua’s defense attorney, recently told Local 10 News. “My client will not put the families through a trial and expose them to relive this terrible tragedy.”

A 19-year-old camp counselor and two children, including 7-year-old Calena Areyan Gruber survived.

Federal prosecutors allege Lopez Insua was operating a tug pushing a construction barge when it struck the stalled sailboat in Biscayne Bay. Investigators said the sailboat had lost wind and drifted into the barge’s path.

Read more New video shows woman attacking senior couple outside Miami Beach business, police say

Authorities have said Lopez Insua was using his cellphone around the time of the crash and that data “indicated activity on internet marketplaces, including at the time when the collision occurred.”

Prosecutors also allege the tugboat’s pilothouse view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane on the barge, and that the vessel lacked adequate lookout systems such as cameras or radar.

“INSUA’s cellular telephone was unlocked during the transit time leading up to the collision and indicated activity on internet marketplaces, including at the time when the collision occurred,” according to an indictment obtained by Local 10 News.

Court filings previously stated Lopez Insua had operated the vessel for years and had prior “near-misses” in the same area.

The crash is also the subject of at least one lawsuit in Miami-Dade County court.

Read more Man shot in leg during attempted robbery in Opa-locka, police say