Key West Injury Lawyer Blog
A 56-year-old man snorkeling near Key West Sunday afternoon died after being found unconscious in the water on Sunday, May 10, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Benjamin Lee Millspaw, of Belmont, North Carolina, was swimming off Cottrell Key around noon when he was pulled from the water. Millspaw was with a commercial snorkeling company, officials said.
He was taken to the Lower Keys Medical Center and was pronounced dead.
An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause and manner of death, though investigators said in an online statement that they do not suspect foul play.
This comes after investigators continue to look into the diving death of a 27-year-old mother on Friday, May 8 near Big Pine Key.
Jocelyn Brown was diving off of Little Palm Island around 11 a.m. when she was hit by a vessel, officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told reporters with The Key West Citizen. The vessel operator and passengers on board helped pull Brown from the water and got her to shore. Tragically, however, she died from her injuries.
Her divers-down flags — which signal to boats in the area that there are divers in the water and that they must maintain a specific distance from the flags — were displayed, officials said.
Additional details were not immediately available to the public.
Florida Law
Under Florida law, divers, snorkelers, and swimmers must display a divers-down flag or buoy unless they are in a designated swimming-only area. Divers are required to stay within 100 feet of the flag in rivers, inlets and navigation channels, and within 300 feet in open waters. The flag must be red with a white, diagonal stripe and be prominently displayed while divers are in the water.
Boaters must maintain these same distances away from the flags while also slowing to idle speed when operating within 100 feet of flags in channels or within 300 feet in open water.
Leesfield & Partners
In five decades of personal injury law, Leesfield & Partners has handled countless cases in which a person has been injured on the water. From reckless boating or jet ski incidents to parasailing tragedies and more, our skilled trial attorneys handle every case with the compassion and diligence necessary to secure the best possible outcome for every client and hold the responsible parties accountable for their actions. Our attorneys and staff extend our deepest condolences to the families impacted by these unimaginable tragedies.
In data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s annual boating accident report, officials found that 65% of operators involved in fatal accidents had no formal boater’s education in 2024. This is the year with the latest publicly available data. There were approximately 685 incidents on the water in Florida for that year. Of these incidents, at least 81 people died and nearly 400 others were injured. The most common accident type was a collision with a fixed object.
At Leesfield & Partners, education and prevention are a main proponent in our online safety campaigns. The firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, Ira Leesfield, has been a major advocate for safe boating throughout South Florida.
“The dangers from boating incidents are entirely underestimated as South Florida becomes more congested, drinking on the water becomes more prevalent and distractions from cell phones and other devices increases,” he said. “Important safety standards must be enforced on all watercrafts.”
Ongoing Boating Matters
Partner Justin B. Shapiro and Evan Robinson, a Trial Attorney at the firm, are representing a teen who suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of a water tubing accident.
Mr. Shapiro and Trial Attorney Eric Shane are representing a young girl who was enrolled in a South Florida summer camp when her leg was sliced by a boat propeller.
Leesfield & Partners is also representing those affected by the horrific sailboat-barge crash in Miami on July 28, including 7-year-old Calena Areyan Gruber, who fought to survive.
The firm is also representing the family of 13-year-old Erin Ko, one of the girls who tragically died in the sailboat-barge crash. That case is being handled by Mr. Shapiro and Trial Attorney Bernardo Pimentel II.
Boating Safety
- Never allow a child to operate a vessel.
- Never drink and boat.
- Never go out boating without telling someone what area you are headed to and when they can expect you to be back. This is so that, in case of an emergency, someone will know that you did not return and can give rescue teams an area to begin searching for you.
- Take a boating education course
- Carry life vests approved by the Coast Guard for every person on board. Children should wear a life vest at all times when on a boat.
- Take advantage of free annual boat inspections offered by the U.S. Coast Guard.
- Keep necessary emergency kits on board that include essential items like flare guns, fire extinguishers and first-aid kits.
Previous Cases
Previously, the firm secured a substantial settlement in a case involving a minor who lost a leg while not being supervised on a vessel.
The firm previously handled the case of a family whose young son was snorkeling when he was hit and killed by a passing boater. The boater in that case was also a minor who should never have been given permission to operate the vessel without supervision. Not only did this minor not stop, but he also attempted to cover up evidence and lied to the police when questioned.
Neighbors later testified that this minor regularly operated the boat in a reckless manner.
The firm represented the family of a young woman, 20, who tragically died when the vessel she was on crashed into a concrete dock. The firm secured over $1.3 million for the family when it was revealed that the boat operator had been drinking and speeding the night of the crash.
In a jet ski and boat crash, Leesfield & Partners attorneys secured $935,750 for their client.
In a boat case involving a foreign resort, the firm secured an $800,000 recovery for the injured client.
Another boating accident involving a negligent operator resulted in a $500,000 recovery.
In addition to boating accident litigation, Leesfield & Partners has represented the victims of various water-related accidents, including drownings, jet ski crashes, parasailing, and other recreational activities.
Mr. Pimentel represented the family of a young man and father-to-be who was lobster diving when he was killed by a law enforcement officer who negligently failed to adhere to divers-down flag laws.
