Russell Bruce, the owner of a Miami nightclub was sentenced to four years of probation on Friday, after pleading no contest to a manslaughter charge in the death of 26-year-old Lauren Lamar, after she was found floating in the water.
According to ABC 10 News, back in May 2015, Lamar was reported missing after the boat she had been on with Bruce and another woman returned from Stiltsville in Biscayne Bay.
Bruce along with the other woman on the boat, Alicia Bartolotta, was arrested after Lamar’s body was found face down in the water on May 25, 2015.
According to police, both Bruce and Bartolotta both claimed that they thought Lamar was sleeping below the deck and did not hear or see her fall into the water. Police say they waited more than a half an hour before notifying authorities after they returned back to the marina.
Bruce briefly apologized to the family of Lamar in court on Friday and said, “It was a very tragic day. I’m sorry for the loss and my condolences to the family.”
Lamar’s father said, “If you really was sorry, you would’ve did that two years ago. Be a man.”
According to a Miami Herald reporter, prosecutors admitted that they could not prove if Lamar could have been saved from the rough waters had Bruce called 911 after she fell off the boat.
Source: http://www.local10.com/news/crime/miami-nightclub-owner-sentenced-to-probation-in-boating-death
