A federal grand jury charged a Florida Keys boat captain with the death of an Illinois woman who was killed after the parasail she and two children were attached to slammed into the Old Seven Mile Bridge on Memorial Day in 2022.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged 52-year-old Daniel Couch with one count of seaman’s manslaughter following the Aug. 7 indictment. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted.
Couch was at the helm of a 31-foot boat owned by Lighthouse Parasail out of the Middle Keys city of Marathon, towing Supraja Alaparthi, 33, her 10-year-old son and her 9-year old nephew, who were tethered to a parasail harness several feet in the air behind the vessel around 5 p.m. May 30, 2022.
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A strong storm gust snagged the parasail making it difficult for Couch and his mate to lower Alaparthi and the children, investigators say. The “pegged” parasail also risked dragging the boat, investigators said.
It was Couch’s next move that proved fatal and landed him in trouble with the law. Instead of steering the boat side to side and employing other options in which experts say were appropriate to lessen the wind underneath the parasail, Couch took a knife and cut the cable that attached the boat to the harness.
He thought the move would cause Alaparthi and the boys to drop to the ocean surface so he could pick them up. Instead, the wind dragged the parasail with the family in tow for miles before they crashed into the iconic span that connects Knights Key in Marathon with Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys.
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Alaparthi was pronounced dead at a nearby restaurant that rescuers used as a staging area. Her son suffered minor injuries, and her nephew was seriously injured.
Florida Fish and Wlidlife Conservation Commission investigators said Couch did not maneuver his boat under the bridge to try to release the family after they hit the span and were trapped in the parasail.
Instead, a flats fishing guide who watched the situation unfold sped his boat to the bridge to rescue the woman and children. His two charter passengers performed CPR on Alaparthi and the seriously injured child as the guide took them to paramedics waiting at the restaurant.
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The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office charged Couch with manslaughter in September 2022. Though he has pleaded not guilty, that case is still pending, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield.
In the FWC report that led to the state charge, invistigators noted the National Weather Service forecasted high winds, heavy rains and thunderstorms just before Couch took the family out on the water that day.
It was not immediately known Monday whether Couch was in custody. Information about his legal representation in the federal case was not immediately available.
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