Tugboat captain charged in deadly sailboat crash in Biscayne Bay expected to change plea
By Morgan Rynor, Steven Yablonski
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MIAMI (WFOR) — A Miami tugboat captain charged in a collision in Biscayne Bay in July 2025 that killed three girls near Miami Beach is expected to change his plea in court on Tuesday.
Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of seaman’s manslaughter, but his attorney told CBS News Miami months ago that the plan has been to take responsibility and spare the families from having to go through a trial.
Prosecutors said Insua had been operating a tugboat pushing a debris-filled barge when it struck a sailboat in Biscayne Bay in July 2025.
The sailboat was carrying five children and a camp counselor when it was struck, killing three of them.
The victims were identified as 7-year-old Mila Yankelevich, 13-year-old Erin Ko Han and 10-year-old Arielle “Ari” Buchman.Federal prosecutors said that Insua didn’t see their stalled sailboat because he had obstructed visibility and didn’t have a lookout.
“The client is deeply saddened by the tragic boating accident that cost the lives of three small children,” Attorney Walter A. Reynoso said when he spoke with CBS News Miami in April. “He sends his sincere condolences to the families and their loved ones. We intend to accept responsibility for his conduct.”
The collision happened around 11:15 a.m. on Monday, July 28, 2025, between Hibiscus Island and Monument Island.
According to a Department of Justice press release, the tugboat’s forward view was blocked by a deckhouse and crane, and no one aboard was assigned to watch for hazards, a basic maritime safety requirement.
At the same time, a children’s sailing camp was underway nearby when a sailboat carrying one counselor and five children lost wind and stalled directly in the path of the approaching tug and barge and was struck.
Yankelevich, Han and Buchman died.
The counselor and two children survived after being dragged under the barge, but the three children were trapped in the wreckage and drowned.
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