Video from March 2024
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The family of a teen who was killed in a boating crash in Pinellas County earlier this year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the parents of the 16-year-old who was operating the boat at the time of the crash.
Collin Moorefield was killed in the March 3 boat crash near Bayshore Boulevard in St. Petersburg, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Teen dies after being ejected from boat in St. Pete; another injured
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 12, accuses Anjan and Katherine Tharakan of purchasing a boat for their 16-year-old son to use with his friends without adult supervision.
“Anjan and Katherine have engaged in a pattern and practice of buying power vehicles or vessels for their son” to use and transport other minors, the lawsuit reads.
The parents knew their son “was ill-equipped, in-experienced, or both, to safely operate [the boat], especially without an adult experienced in operating power watercraft present on [the boat] with [their] minor son,” the lawsuit alleges.