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Kyle Barrett Wiki – Kyle Barrett Bio
Barrett was convicted of two counts of boat manslaughter and will serve four years behind bars, followed by six years of probation for the deadly accident, WPTV reported.
The Palm City man was driving his friend’s 26-foot Carolina Composite center console powerboat through the Intracoastal in October 2019 when it crashed into a channel marker at high speed, throwing five people overboard.
Paige Barrett, 28, and Hudson Matakaetis, 20 months, died in the crash.
The Barrett family and the Matakaetis family went to dinner together and a total of eight packed into the 26-foot boat on October 27 around 7:40 p.m.
Kyle Barrett Age
Barrett is 34 years old.
Kyle Barrett – Boat driver convicted of causing the accident
Investigators said Barrett had a few drinks at dinner before getting behind the wheel of the boat and deciding to take a shortcut home. Prosecutors said it was dark and cloudy that night and the boat’s GPS was not working when Barrett drove the boat at high speed toward the unlit channel marker. It’s a perfect storm of things gone wrong,” his attorney Robert Watson said, according to TCPalm. However, prosecutors said Barrett was an experienced boater and knew the area, so he should have known about the marker. Besides the fact that he has his children, children of the Matakaetis, he has to be very careful, but he ignores those factors,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Bodek.
Barrett read a statement in the courtroom in which he acknowledged his guilt and spoke of his remorse. My life has been dedicated to transporting people safely and tonight my lifelong boating experience failed me and a tragic accident occurred,” he said. “I am deeply sorry for the misjudgment I made at that time and I accept the responsibility that falls on my shoulders.” Little Hudson’s mother also spoke in the courtroom and read a victim impact statement, according to local media. Leanne Matakaetis said that the tragedy was preventable and she said that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. “I told Barrett to slow down and yelled at him that it was dark and to watch where we were going,” she said. “We never should have made the cut in the dark at that speed. Kyle made these decisions thinking he had it. His choice, his mistake, our loss.”
She called the loss of his and Barrett’s wife’s daughter “unimaginable. There is so much sadness hidden in us,” Matakaetis said. “There are days when it is questionable to continue, smiling hurts. Then there are happy moments when you feel like you shouldn’t be happy. Like you’re not allowed. Barrett said he replays the moment of the accident in his head every night and worries about being separated from his children, who are in family custody. It’s been an emotional struggle these last three years,” she said. “This morning, I kissed and hugged my kids tight and anxiously waited to find out if I’ll be home to tuck them in tonight.