Skipper Charged After Overcrowded Harbor Boat Capsizes, Killing Mother and Infant
A small white motorboat capsized off Liberty Island late Saturday night, killing a young mother and her infant daughter — a tragedy authorities say was entirely preventable and caused by the reckless decisions of the boat’s skipper.
The 22‑foot bowrider flipped just before 10 p.m., dumping 14 people into the dark waters of New York Harbor. Police sources say the vessel was dangerously overcrowded, far beyond what the boat was designed to carry, and investigators are already pointing to the captain’s irresponsible choices as the direct cause of the disaster.
Two passengers — 5‑month‑old Antonella Garcia and her mother, Sara Sanchez, 27, of College Point, Queens — died after being thrown into the water. Sanchez’s boyfriend, the baby’s father, was also aboard when the boat overturned.
The man operating the vessel, Manuel Hernandez, 46, of Manhattan, now faces 13 counts of reckless endangerment, with additional charges expected. According to sources, Hernandez ignored basic safety limits, loaded the boat far beyond capacity, and took the group out at night in choppy conditions — a combination investigators describe as “a recipe for catastrophe.”
Authorities say Hernandez’s actions showed a blatant disregard for the safety of everyone on board. The boat, designed for far fewer passengers, became unstable under the excessive weight, and once it rolled, the people aboard had little chance to react.
Eleven survivors were pulled from the water and taken to local hospitals with minor injuries. Police and emergency crews say the outcome could have been far worse — and that the two deaths were the tragic result of a captain who treated a crowded nighttime harbor like a playground.
Investigators are continuing to review the circumstances, but early findings leave little doubt: this wasn’t an unavoidable accident. It was a fatal act of negligence.
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