INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 23-year-old will face a judge next month after receiving an additional charge of manslaughter in connection with a 2017 boat crash that killed a Vero Beach teenager.
Jayson Michael Clark
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY INDIAN RIVER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Jayson Michael Clark, of the 2300 block of 14th Street, Vero Beach, was charged on Dec. 3 with boating under the influence manslaughter. Clark was released the same day on $100,000 bond.
The wreck killed 19-year-old Chance Rivero, reports show.
Indian River County deputies determined that on June 3, 2017, Clark was driving a boat in a reckless manner that led to Rivero’s death. The vessel struck a channel marker, which Clark told investigators he “noticed at the last second but could not avoid it,” reports show.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was the lead agency investigating the wreck.
An FWC report showed the deadly crash happened about 11 p.m. in the Indian River Lagoon in Vero Beach. The weather was clear, the water conditions were calm, and winds were 7-to-14 mph, reports show.
Clark was driving the 17-foot-long 2006 Carolina Skiff motorboat headed back to Memorial Island Park Boat Ramp. The vessel struck the Green Day channel marker 149. The boat was traveling more than 40 mph when it struck the marker, reports show.
Six people, including Rivero, were aboard the vessel during the crash. Rivero was thrown from the boat upon impact, suffering broken bones, a head injury, internal injuries, cuts and a neck injury, reports show.
Rivero died at the scene, authorities said. At least one other person on the boat suffered serious injuries – including broken bones – and was taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, reports show.
FWC investigators listed alcohol use, careless driving and not properly looking out as factors that contributed to the crash. Officials said none of the people aboard were wearing life jackets.
FWC officers found several empty beer cans and a lighter next to a glass pipe with residue on the boat, reports show. The vessel sustained $8,500 in damages, officials said.
Clark was initially charged with vessel homicide in January 2020. Clark was due in court at 1:15 p.m. Jan. 12, 2022, court records show.
