View of the Coral Gables home of Carlos Alonso where fish and wildlife police say a boat matching the description of the vessel that struck and killed Ella Adler, a 15-year-old Ransom Everglades student, off Key Biscayne Saturday was located and seized from the dock, on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
pportal@miamiherald.com
The man that police officers say was operating the boat that struck and killed a 15-year-old girl near Key Biscayne is the owner of company with clients like Baptist Hospital, the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach school boards and Miami International Airport, records show.
For decades, 78-year-old Carlos Guillermo Alonso has run Technical Systems & Equipment Corp., at the 8400 block of NW 56th St. in Doral. The company specializes in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.
Alonso, who goes by the nickname Bill, came to the United States from Cuba in the early 1960s through “Operation Pedro Pan,” an exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959.
State records say Alonso and his wife Magaly started the company in 1979. They bought the Doral building in 1984 and registered their company with the state in 1994. The company, which remains active, has a second office in Palm Beach Gardens. Other companies the Alonsos run: Baruch Adonai LLC and Immanuel Properties, which owns the Doral building.
READ MORE: Gables man was piloting boat that struck and killed Ransom Everglades student: FWC report
Alonso and his wife own the Coral Gables home at the 11000 block of Tanya St., where the 42-foot 2020 Boston Whaler boat was docked when Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission agents seized the vessel Tuesday afternoon.
The Alonsos bought the 14,650 square foot waterfront lot in the south Gables, near Matheson Hammock Park, in 1986. In 1990, they finished building their four-bedroom, four-bathroom home, about 5,600 square feet, according to Miami-Dade property records.
They bought the lot for $121,800, according to property records. In today’s real estate market, the house would sell for $5 million or more, says a local real estate agent.
READ MORE: Boater saying he didn’t know he struck and killed girl doesn’t absolve him, lawyers say
The Alonsos have two adult children: a 52-year-old son, who public records say lives at the Coral Gables home, and a 54-year-old daughter.
FWC investigators had been searching for the boat’s operator since last Saturday, the day Ella Riley Adler, a freshman at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, was struck and killed by a boat while being towed behind another boat after she fell off a wake board in the waters off Key Biscayne.
They located the boat Tuesday afternoon docked behind the Alonso home. They seized the Boston Whaler and towed it to Port Everglades in Broward.
Alonso has been boating for 50 years and is a “very experienced boater who knows these waters,” according to his attorney Lauren Field Krasnoff. He has never been cited for driving or boating offenses, records show.
Field Krasnoff also said in her statement to the Herald that Alonso “has no knowledge whatsoever of having been involved in this accident” — and if he did, he would have stopped. The FWC said the boat that hit Ella did not stop and that Alonso was the only person in the Whaler at the time of the crash.
Field Krasnoff said Alonso was unaware there had been an accident on the water until the day officers showed up at his door, she said.
“Bill is a good man and he is absolutely devastated by the loss of this intelligent, accomplished and beautiful young woman,” Field Krasnoff said in the statement. “He has cooperated 100% with law enforcement and will continue to do so.”
The FWC said its investigation is ongoing; the agency has not charged anyone.
READ MORE: Boat behind Gables home seized in crash that killed Ransom Everglades student, FWC says
Ella was the granddaughter of Michael Adler, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium. Michael Adler was formerly president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and vice chair of the Florida International University Board of Trustees. Ella was a ballerina in more than 100 performances of Miami City Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” and was a member of Ransom’s dance team.
READ MORE: ‘The world has been robbed’: Family mourns girl killed in boat crash near Key Biscayne
First Lady Jill Biden met with the Adlers on Tuesday.
“We are honored that the First Lady paid a shiva call to our family during this time of immense pain. We are touched by their support and love and we are proud to call the President and First Lady our friends for over 40 years,” according to a statement from the family, as reported by CBS News Miami, the Herald’s news partner.
This story was originally published May 16, 2024, 6:02 PM.
