A family of 10, a wake boat "doing donuts," and a death on Herrington Lake- what we know

Nazar Svintozelskiy died after being ejected from the boat. His father, Alex, remains unresponsive at UK Hospital following emergency brain surgery. The family's attorney describes a religious family more focused on getting answers than seeking revenge- for now.

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Kentucky Fish and Wildlife game wardens are investigating a boating incident on Herrington Lake that killed one man and left his father hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury- a case the family's attorney says has been defined not by anger, but by patience.

According to a press release from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the incident happened on Saturday, July 4, when a wake boat collided with a pontoon boat operated by 58-year-old Alex Svintozelskiy of Nicholasville.

I am choosing not to release the name of the driver of the wake boat because he has not been charged in the case.

A passenger on the pontoon, 25-year-old Nazar Svintozelskiy, was ejected into the water. His body was recovered from Herrington Lake two days later, on Monday, July 6.

The investigation is being led by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife's Law Enforcement Division in collaboration with the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. Anyone with information is asked to contact Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement through Kentucky State Police Post 7 at 859-623-2404.

That's the official version. I wanted to know more about the family behind it, so I talked with attorney Justin Peterson, who's representing the Svintozelskiys.

A family of 10 on the water

Peterson laid out who was on the pontoon boat that day: Alex and his wife, Tonya; three of their adult children, Nazar, Anesa and Lena; Lena's husband, Andrew; and the couple's four grandchildren, ranging in age from two months to eight years old. Ten people in total. Two of the grandchildren were out on a tube at the time, away from the boat.

"The family saw them coming, was waving and screaming for them not to stop or to avoid the collision, and then ultimately the wake boat made contact at full speed with the pontoon boat," Peterson said, citing eyewitness accounts of the wake boat traveling at a high rate of speed.

Peterson pushed back on even calling it a collision. "When I think of a collision, I think of two vehicles moving together somehow," he said. "In this particular instance, the pontoon boat was just run over." He said the pontoon was sitting idle at the time.

Nazar was hit by the wake boat, thrown into the water, and drowned, according to Peterson. His father, Alex, was life-flighted to the University of Kentucky Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe brainstem injury. Two days before our conversation, doctors performed what Peterson called a "very complicated" brain surgery, and he says Alex's vitals have shown improvement since.

Tonya, Alex's wife, suffered a shattered arm in the crash and has been staying by his bedside.

"He has not yet woken up to the terrible reality that he is going to return to, but he is improving," Peterson said, crediting the medical team at UK along with the community's prayers.

Peterson said the two grandchildren who were on the tube witnessed Nazar being hit and thrown into the water, and the family says the kids have been having nightmares since.

What happened before the crash?

Asked what's stood out most from witness accounts, Peterson didn't hedge.

"We know there was drinking," he said, adding that witnesses describe the wake boat "doing donuts in a reckless manner" a significant distance from the idle pontoon before it drove full speed into it.

Despite that, Peterson described a family that has approached the case differently than most he represents. "This family, they were not seeking vengeance, and understandably, in a lot of these situations, the families that come to me, they are seeking vengeance. I totally understand that," he said. "But this is a very religious family, and the first thing they want is answers. And once we get those answers, then they want accountability."

He said the family has been cooperating fully with law enforcement and passing along any relevant information his team has gathered independently. Dozens of witnesses have come forward, he said, some of whom weren't initially comfortable calling police directly but were willing to talk to a private attorney.

Peterson said his firm hasn't filed a civil suit and is intentionally holding off while the criminal investigation plays out, even though Kentucky's one-year statute of limitations clock- which starts once a personal representative is appointed for Nazar's estate- is already running.

Part of the reasoning is practical: civil cases are often stayed once criminal charges or a criminal investigation are pending, because Fifth Amendment protections limit what can happen on the civil side in the meantime. There's also a difference in tools available. Criminal investigators can get warrants and issue subpoenas before any charges are filed; civil attorneys don't have subpoena power until a lawsuit is actually filed.

"We are truly on the ground investigating, meeting with witnesses, talking with witnesses until midnight," Peterson said. "So what we can do is definitely different than what law enforcement does, but it doesn't mean we're not working night and day."

As for when- or whether- criminal charges will come, Peterson said he couldn't comment directly on the pending law enforcement investigation, but noted it's not unusual for prosecutors to take their time before seeking an indictment in cases involving a death and serious injuries.

"I totally understand the community's outcry for accountability, because we do need accountability here," he said. "But I will say this: let's let law enforcement do their job... It's not about what happens today. It's about having accountability."

"At a minimum, we owe it to him"

Peterson said Alex and Tonya have been married 35 years and have four children and eight grandchildren between them. Right now, the family's focus is squarely on Alex's recovery- but Peterson said they wanted one thing conveyed clearly.

"They hope that when Alex wakes up, despite the physical and mental difficulties he's going to have... this man's going to learn that his son is dead, missed a funeral. His grandchildren are suffering," Peterson said. "At a minimum, we owe it to him to have accountability ready to go once he wakes up."

No one in the family has spoken publicly yet. Peterson said that could change, but for now their attention is on Alex's recovery.

A separate case, same agency

While Kentucky Fish and Wildlife works this investigation, the agency is also continuing to investigate the death of Marly Kinney, the 19-year-old Ashland woman whose body was recovered from Grayson Lake on June 28 after she went missing from a rented pontoon boat at Grayson Lake Marina. That case remains open and is unrelated to the Herrington Lake crash beyond both falling under the department's Law Enforcement Division.

A community searched for five days. Marly Kinney has been found.

The five-day search for a 19-year-old Ashland woman missing from Grayson Lake has ended in tragedy. “I’m Shay McAlister, and this is Shay Informed: an independent, ad-free platform dedicated to honest journalism with compassion and clarity. Are you new here? Sign up for the free

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