Allen Kee / ESPN Images(NEW YORK) – In the wake of Miami Marlins’ All-Star pitcher Jose Fernandez’s death, there is now a battle for his estate. A pair of lawsuits claim wrongful death and negligence for the boating accident that killed Fernandez and two others this past September.
Obtained by ESPN.com, the complaints from both families of Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Macias, the two other people on the boat, are claiming that Fernandez’s “negligence” was a “direct and proximate cause” of death. The complaints further allege that Fernandez failed to comply with Florida state statutes “while illegally intoxicated and/or under the influence of an illegal substance.”
The lawsuits were recently filed in Miami circuit court and come at a critical time for the late Fernandez’s girlfriend, Maria Arias. She is expected give birth to the couple’s daughter very soon. Arias is expected to be the beneficiary of Fernandez’s estate, valued at $2-3 million.
Speaking out against the lawsuit, Ralph Fernandez, a family friend and attorney representing the pitcher’s mother, said to ESPN.com, “I don’t want to project an end to this, but it’s had a bad start with the lawsuit timing, not necessarily the claim itself, which they are fully entitled to make, but with Maria Arias’ imminent childbirth. I think it was a sensitivity issue and a poor choice, but everyone represents clients in a different way.”
The family’s lawyer also said that a settlement offer of $500,000 each to both the families of Rivero and Macias on behalf of the insurance company was rejected.
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