Two boaters were charged with misdemeanor careless boating charges in the May 2024 death of a Ransom Everglades School student who was struck by a boat while she and a friend were wakeboarding behind a yacht in Biscayne Bay.
Ella Adler, 15, and another girl were being towed by a 42-foot yacht off Nixon Beach in Key Biscayne on May 11, 2024, when she was hit by a 42-foot Boston Whaler driven by 79-year-old Carlos Guillermo ‘Bill’ Alonso, whose attorneys maintained he never knew he hit Ella.
He drove his boat back to his Coral Gables home after striking Adler.
The tragedy made international headlines because Ella was the granddaughter of Michael Adler, then the U.S. ambassador to Belgium. Adler was formerly president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and vice chair of the Florida International University Board of Trustees.
Prosecutors charged Alonso with two counts of careless boating on May 20, court records show. Despite several records requests, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hasn’t provided the Herald a copy of its final report, which is usually completed before charges are recommended. The FWC investigates boating accidents…