MIAMI - The Marlins have set up a trust fund to cover the education and financial future of the daughter of late pitcher Jose Fernandez.
Fernandez's girlfriend Maria Arias gave birth to Penelope in February, five months after Fernandez was killed in a boat crash in Miami.
Marlins President David Samson said Thursday that the fund will ensure Penelope will be able to finish all schooling debt-free and will receive a distribution of remaining money into adulthood. In addition, Fernandez's mother, Maritza, will receive an annual sum under the trust.
Samson declined to confirm a Miami Herald report that money from the trust totals $700,000 and comes from an insurance policy the team received from Major League Baseball.
"It's a substantial amount for a 3-month-old baby," Samson said. "Whatever she wants to do, she has an opportunity to go to school and graduate debt-free."
Samson said Fernandez's daughter "looks like Jose."
"She's a happy, great kid," Samson said. "It doesn't take away any of the hurt or any of the emotions that she'll go through as she gets older and realizes that she doesn't have a father that's alive and starts to learn about Jose."
Sun sentinel
