Man faces up to 12 years in boating accident that killed four

Tuesday, Feb. 2, 1999 | 12:29 p.m.

Michael Yost, 44, of Henderson, pleaded guilty Monday in a Kingman, Ariz., courtroom to four counts of manslaughter.

"I was driving too fast for the conditions of the night," Yost told Mohave County Superior Court Judge Richard Weiss. Yost ran his 47-foot speedboat aground near Burro Point on the Arizona side of the lake during a midnight return from Hoover Dam on March 22.

"Mr. Yost estimated his speed at approximately 50 miles an hour," prosecutor Derek Carlisle said. "One of the witnesses on the boat who survived estimated the boat was full throttle, which would be about 80 miles per hour."

Yost's wife, Camille, 41, Eugene Cason III, 27, and Michael Kelly, 26, both of Las Vegas suffered fatal injuries when they were thrown from the boat, according to the National Park Service. Pearl Ewens, 47, of Henderson remained on board and was also dead at the scene of the wreck.

Two aggravated assault counts and an endangerment charge were dismissed in the agreement Weiss approved. The deal also removed from the manslaughter counts the "dangerous offense" allegation that enhances punishment provisions.

The hair salon owner can receive no more than 12 years in prison when sentenced March 3; he had faced 134 years in prison if he had been convicted of all counts at trial and given the maximum sentence. Yost is also eligible for probation, but such leniency is rare in multiple-death prosecutions in Mohave County.

One victim's father, Eugene Cason II, clearly was not pleased with the agreement. "I can't do anything about it," he told reporters outside the courthouse. "It can't bring my son back."

Yost admitted he had been drinking the day before the crash. Because of that, he said he relinquished control of his boat to a friend before he later cooked steaks and potatoes for "everyone who was around."

"He was nursing a beer and had one or two beers around dinner time. This was about 7 or 8 at night," Las Vegas defense lawyer Stephen Stein said. "The accident occurred about midnight."

About a dozen Yost supporters attended the court session.