Nina Golgowski is a senior breaking news and general assignment reporter. Prior to joining HuffPost, she served as a breaking news reporter for the New York Daily News, as a reporter for the UK's Daily Mail Online, and as a freelancer for CNN. You can reach her at nina.golgowski@huffpost.
Federal prosecutors have arrested two New Jersey tour boat operators in the 2022 drowning deaths of a 7-year-old boy and his aunt after their overcrowded vessel capsized while speeding in rough water off Manhattan, authorities said.
While 11 people on the boat were able to escape, Lindelia Vasquez, 48, and 7-year-old Julian Vasquez became trapped beneath the vessel. Their bodies were recovered by a dive team approximately 25 minutes after the capsizing. Their cause of death was drowning, authorities said. Gomez, who was described in the complaint as an “insufficiently experienced mariner,” piloted the boat and allowed 13 people to board for the ill-fated trip, despite the boat’s 12-person limit and a small craft advisory being in effect at the time for New York Harbor, according to a copy of the criminal complaint.US Attorney's Office Southern District of New York
Once on the water, the boat allegedly traveled at high speeds in strong winds and heavy seas around lower Manhattan. It then entered some swells, causing its bow to take on water.Gomez brought both throttles to a neutral position just as another swell hit the boat. The change in propulsion, coupled with the swell, caused the bow to become completely submerged up to its windshield.