The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission concluded in its nearly six-month investigation that former Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez, who was killed in a fatal boating accident on Sept. 25, 2016, was actually driving the boat. that crashed into a jetty off the coast of Miami Beach.

Ex-Marlin Jose Fernandez Was Driving Boat In Crash That Killed Him, Investigation Finds

The 24-year-old Cuban-born American and two others, 27-year-old Jesus Macias and 25-year-old Eduardo Rivero, died from a combination of blunt force injuries sustained in the accident and drowning. The families of Macias and Rivero have filed lawsuits for wrongful death against Fernandez’s estate.

“There was no evidence found to indicate either Macias or Rivero were possible operators of (the vessel),” investigators concluded.

Marlins president David Samson issued a statement following the release of the report.

“No matter what the report has concluded, nothing will ever diminish Jose’s everlasting positive connection with Miamis and the Miami Marlins. Nor can it lessen the love and passion he felt for his family, friends, teammates and all his fans in South Florida and around the world.”

The Marlins paid tribute to Fernandez in their first game after his death by all wearing jerseys with his name and number, (16) and even tossing their hats in the middle of the field at Marlins Park.

The FWC’s investigation also concluded that drugs and alcohol were involved. According to the Commission, Fernandez violated several boating laws, including Boating Under the Influence Manslaughter, Vessel Homicide and Reckless or Careless Operation of a Vessel.

Fernandez’s blood alcohol level was reportedly .147 and there was “noted presence of cocaine,” according to the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s toxicology report.

The report also included a text message exchange from the night of the crash between Rivero and Maria Arias, Fernandez’s girlfriend. She told Rivero the two had been fighting, and she asked him to take care of Fernandez. “He’s been drinking and is not in the best state of mind,” one of Arias’s texts about the former pitcher said.

The report concluded: “Fernandez operated V-1 with his normal faculties impaired, in a reckless manner, at an extreme high rate of speed, in the darkness of night, in an area with known navigational hazards such as rock jetties and channel markers.”

The conclusion that Fernandez was the operator was based in part on the finding that his bruises matched the damage on the boat’s center console. Investigators also noted that his DNA was found on the steering wheel and throttle.

Jose Fernandez’s family attorney, Ralph Fernandez, was critical of the findings, saying the investigators tried hard but were “out of their league.”

“This is the most serious of matters and trying hard is not good enough,” said Ralph Fernandez, who accompanied Jose’s mother, Maritza, and girlfriend, Maria, to a meeting with the commission’s investigators Wednesday night. “This is a high-profile national case, a feather in the cap of an investigator if a conclusion is reached. … There was a bull’s-eye on Jose.”

Fernandez added the findings of the FWC’s investigation would not affect the Macias and Rivero families’ lawsuits.

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jose Fernandez #16 of the Miami Marlins pitches in the first inning to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on September 14, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Yasiel Puig, the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ Cuban-born outfielder, cried Sunday while discussing his relationship with compatriot Jose Fernandez. 

Tributes Pour In After Marlins Pitcher Jose Fernandez’S DEATH

Puig said he was one of the first to learn of the death of Fernandez, the Miami Marlins right-handed pitcher who died in a boating accident early Sunday morning at the age of 24.

“He was a very good guy and I also liked the way he played baseball, the way he treated his mom and his grandma, his teammates and other ballplayers like myself,’’ said Puig, standing in front of his locker at Dodger Stadium approximately two hours before a game against the Colorado Rockies. “That was the best part of him. That’s what I liked the most about him.’’

The Marlins star and two other men were found dead after their boat was discovered at the entrance of Miami Harbor, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Lorenzo Veloz. Coast Guard personnel on patrol noticed the boat laying upside down on the north end of a rocky jetty shortly after 3:15 am, Veloz stated at a news conference.

Several of Sunday’s Major League Baseball games began with a moment of silence to honor Fernandez. In addition, dozens of quickly-prepared tributes arose across the country, with Puig and another Cuban outfielder, Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets, taping makeshift Fernandez jerseys in their respective dugouts.

The weeping Puig talked about his friendship with Fernandez. The 25-year-old said the two became friends in 2013 when they were competing for the National League Rookie-of-the-Year award that Fernandez ultimately won.

“We would joke around a lot,’’ he said. “We had a lot of fun. Sometimes he would throw balls and I would tell him to throw strikes. And I think next time we face Miami and play baseball and he’s not there I’m really going to miss him.’

Fernandez left Cuba for the US at 15, and inspired scores of other MLB players during his time as a player. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers met Fernandez shortly after Fernandez’s family arrived from Cuba, and moved to Tampa. The pitchers were both top prospects in the Tampa area; McCullers posted a photo to his Twitter account of the two of them as younger men, gripping an ax, perhaps after toppling a tree.

“It’s awful that he’s gone,” said McCullers, according to the Houston Chronicle, “but he lived every day he had to the fullest. I believe that.”