Jet skier pleads guilty in death of 12-year-old girl who was paddleboarding in Mission Bay – NBC 7 San Diego

A young man who fatally struck a 12-year-old girl paddleboarding with a jet ski in Mission Bay last year pleaded guilty Thursday to gross negligence manslaughter.

Arsanyous Refat Ghaly, 20, admitted to causing the July 29, 2023, watercraft accident that killed Savannah Peterson.

In July 2023, a 12-year-old boy was killed in Mission Bay by a teenager on a jet ski. NBC 7’s Allison Ash was in the courtroom for the preliminary hearing in the case, where the teen now faces charges that claim his recklessness and excessive speed were to blame.

The victim was on a paddleboard in the De Anza Cove area when he was struck by the boat around 2 p.m. She was taken to hospital, where she died from her injuries.

Ghaly, who was 18 at the time, was arrested last November in connection with the fatal accident.

He remains in custody and is expected to be sentenced next month.

His guilty plea includes an agreement to a sentence of six months in county jail, 50 days of work leave and two years of probation.

Prosecutors say the accident occurred in an area where personal watercraft operators are required to stay below 5 miles per hour.

At a preliminary hearing earlier this year, a trooper testified that data taken from the jet ski indicated it was traveling between 47 and 53 mph at the time of the collision.

Ghaly’s defense lawyer, Hakim George Hakim, called the accident a “tragic accident” and argued during the hearing that his client was driving the boat more than 100 feet from the shore, where he was authorized to pilot the boat at higher speeds.

The death also resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of the girl’s parents.

Ghaly is named as a defendant in the civil suit, alongside, among others, the City and County of San Diego.

The lawsuit blames city rescuers for failing to stop Ghaly from speeding off on the jet ski. Other defendants include two people who allegedly rented the jet ski to Ghaly and his friends even though the young men did not have the California Boater card, required for people operating motorboats in the water.