A federal judge declared a mistrial Monday in the case of a Florida Keys boat captain charged in connection with a 2022 parasailing accident that claimed the life of a 33-year-old mother.

The mistrial was declared after a federal jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict following six days of deliberations.

The jury was dismissed, and the case will be scheduled for a new trial.

Daniel Gavin Couch is charged with seaman’s manslaughter in the death of Supraja Alaparthi, 33, of Schaumburg, Illinois, who was parasailing with her son, then 10, and nephew, then 7, when the fatal incident occurred on May 30, 2022, at the Old Seven Mile Bridge.

According to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, “The captain cut the line tethered to the three victims” because the parasail was “pegging,” a phrase used to describe when a parasail turns into a sail in high winds and could potentially drag the boat.

Alaparthi and the two children were dropped and “dragged through the water by the inflated parasail...through and across the surface of the water” before colliding with the bridge, the report states.

Couch, then 49, worked for Lighthouse Parasail Inc., which is based in Marathon and had departed from Captain Pip’s Marina & Hideaway that day.

According to a state arrest warrant, Couch violated several commercial parasailing statutes.

Federal grand jurors concluded that Couch “engaged in misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his duties as captain.”

With the jury unable to reach a verdict, prosecutors will have the opportunity to retry the case at a later date. A new trial date has not yet been announced.

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