A Florida boater who had been drinking on Memorial Day in 2024 killed a man during a violent confrontation aboard his sailboat, then pushed the victim’s body into the water at a marina, authorities said.
Kamal Padlowski was convicted Thursday of murdering Melvin Jimenez after a fight at Little Harbor Marina in Ruskin, Florida, on May 25, 2024, according to the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office.
During the struggle, Padlowski, 52, shoved Jimenez, causing the 47-year-old to fall backward and strike his head on the dock, officials said. Jimenez was left motionless on the fiberglass gangway.
Rather than call for help or try to render aid, prosecutors said, Padlowski grabbed Jimenez by the ankles and dumped him into the water below.
“I didn’t know he was unconscious. I didn’t know that he had even fallen,” Padlowski said in court. “I knew he was still a threat to me, and I just wanted to get distance between us.”
Physician and pathologist Edward Willey testified that Jimenez suffered vertebral fractures in the fall, severing both vertebral arteries. Willey said Jimenez would have died even if he had not been thrown into the marina water.
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office said Jimenez’s cause of death was drowning.
A jury found Padlowski guilty of first-degree murder.
The two men had only met each other hours earlier at the nearby tiki-themed Sunset Bar and Grill, where they were both celebrating major milestones.
Jimenez had won a contract to install security cameras with Walmart while Padlowski was engaged the day prior, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
As the two celebrated, Padlowski playfully commented on Jimenez ordering a vodka, saying the drink was Russian and they call it “water,” he recalled in court.
They soon left the bar and made the 10-minute walk to the marina, where they drank aboard the docked sailboat for approximately 40 minutes with Padlowski’s fiancée, where they engaged in friendly conversation, according to the outlet.
Jimenez’s blood alcohol level was measured at .26, over three times the legal limit, the outlet reported. Padlowski’s levels were not revealed, but he claimed to have had “two hard iced teas and maybe a shot or two of vodka.”
The hangout grew sour as the two men launched into a brawl aboard Padlowski’s boat.
Surveillance cameras facing the dock captured the two men shoving each other while aboard Padlowski’s boat before the fight erupted onto the gangway, according to video obtained by 10 Tampa Bay News.
Jimenez allegedly threatened to kill Padlowski and rape his unidentified fiancée, the killer claimed in court.
Padlowski claimed self-defense during his murder trial, saying Jimenez had shoved his fiancée and lunged at him.
Prosecutors disputed the claims, revealing the blurry surveillance video captured Padlowski punching Jimenez before grabbing his throat.
Padlowski remained near his boat armed with two kitchen knives until police arrived at the scene.
He initially told officers he didn’t know where Jimenez went, unaware that cameras had recorded the entire fight.
Jimenez’s wife, Angela Sprenger, testified against Padlowski, calling him a liar and a killer.
“Just unbelievable because I don’t believe a word he says. I think he is a narcissist and a murderer,” she told the court, according to 10 Tampa Bay News.
“All the things he was saying was just total lies. And to try to go after my husband’s character that way is just so awful,” she added.
“At least he’ll get to spend the rest of his day thinking about my dad and how maybe if he was a better man and had a better character like my dad, he would have made the decisions that he did to lead to this,” Jimenez’s daughter Kimberly testified, according to WFLA.
Padlowski faces a mandatory life sentence in Florida State Prison, with his sentencing hearing scheduled for August 17.
