The devastated mother of the passenger killed in the ferry crash in Clearwater, Florida, is demanding justice for her son — as no one involved has been charged in the horrible collision.
José Castro, a 41-year-old father of two from Pinellas County, was killed when a private boat smashed into the back of the water taxi he was on Sunday night, with 10 others also injured.
His mother, Carmen Ulloa, immediately flew to Tampa from her home in Peru when she heard the devastating news.
Jose Castro, 41, was killed in Sunday night’s ferry crash in Clearwater, Florida. Kenny Rodriguez
The damaged Clearwater ferry sits on a sandbar after the collision. AP“I can’t sleep at night,” Ulloa told WFLA in Spanish through tears. “I stay awake calling for my little son, thinking that suddenly I’m going to see him.”
“Let there be justice,” she said.
“There must be justice in this country … My son’s death cannot go unpunished.”
Jeffrey Knight, the driver of the boat that smashed into the back of the ferry, has not been criminally charged in the incident. He has blamed the crash on the ferry’s lack of proper lighting and accused the ferry’s crew of being distracted by dolphins.
Castro’s sister, Sandy Todd, ripped the captain’s arguments, which were given in a letter from his lawyer to local authorities.
“What he did was he kill(ed) my brother in that accident, with whatever, any reason, light, no light … who knows,” she alleged in an interview with WFLA.
Carmen Ulloa is demanding justice for her son. WFLA
The deadly collision happened near the Memorial Causeway in Clearwater, Florida. City of Clearwater“Any excuse is not going to bring my brother back.”
Knight also denied fleeing, claiming he was forced to leave the scene due to his boat taking on water and having an 8-week-old baby on board.
He later passed voluntary sobriety tests and was found to have no trace of alcohol in his system.
