PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The deadly Clearwater ferry boat crash is now the subject of a lawsuit.
It was filed in Pinellas County on Monday by one of the people aboard the PSTA ferry, which authorities say was hit from behind by a 37-foot recreational boat on April 27 around sunset.
WATCH: Negligence suit filed against Jeffry Knight by passenger involved in deadly ferry crash
Michael Wyatt represents the ferry passenger, Nicole Makelele. According to Wyatt, his client, a teacher in Pinellas County, was aboard the ferry with her son and suffered a broken femur, cuts, bruises, and emotional trauma.
“She’s going to carry this for the rest of her life. You know, any time she gets on a boat and potentially in a vehicle, she may be thinking about something like this,” Wyatt said.
Other passengers have also lawyered up, and so has the operator of the recreational boat, Jeffry Knight.
Knight has not been charged, even though one of the other ferry passengers, Jose Castro, died from his injuries. His family members are pleading for justice.
“What kind of world is this?” his sister said in a recent interview. “What kind of person is this?”
In a recent letter to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which is still investigating the crash, Kevin Hayslett, an attorney for Knight, put blame on the ferry — questioning its lighting and suggesting those on the ferry may have been distracted by dolphins.
Wyatt, meanwhile, hopes Makelele’s lawsuit against Knight will get to the bottom of what happened that night.
“That’s why we filed the lawsuit. We want to take depositions. We want to find other videos, and you know, do a thorough investigation and see what really went on that night,” Wyatt said.
However, even before that process plays out, both he and his client feel Knight was negligent when he hit the ferry, and they believe he was boating too fast for the conditions present that night.
“We want accountability,” Wyatt said. “We want Mr. Knight to take accountability for his actions that evening.”
The lawsuit requests a jury trial and more than $50,000 in damages.
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