😢 He Lost His Two Grandchildren In A Devastating Boat Crash—Yet Their Father Pleaded For His Release After Prosecutors Revealed A Shocking BAC Result
The Night a Family Dinner Ended in Tragedy: Grandfather’s Release from Jail After Fatal Barnegat Bay Boat Crash Reveals Staggering Blood Alcohol Level
A New Jersey grandfather accused of killing his two young grandchildren in a drunken boating accident has been released from jail after the children’s own father pleaded for his freedom—even as prosecutors disclosed that the man’s blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit at the time of the deadly collision.
Stephen Schneider, 64, of Bayville in Berkeley Township, walked out of Ocean County Jail on Wednesday following a detention hearing before Judge Wendel Daniels. Schneider faces two second-degree counts of reckless vessel homicide, along with charges of operating a vessel under the influence and reckless operation of a vessel. If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years in state prison.
The crash occurred on the evening of July 19 near MJ’s Restaurant Bar and Grill on Bay Boulevard in Berkeley. Schneider had been operating his 28-foot Tidewater Custom 280 center-console boat through Barnegat Bay when it struck an illuminated Intracoastal Waterway channel marker at approximately 20 mph. His 9-year-old granddaughter, Mya Bella Golabek, and 7-year-old grandson, Sigmund Paul Golabek, both of Lacey Township, were seated in the front of the vessel and wearing life jackets. The impact ejected both children into the dark water.
Schneider and his wife, Laurie, also 64, entered the water and recovered the children. He later told investigators he found his grandson first, then his granddaughter, both face-down and unresponsive. CPR was started immediately. The children were rushed to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where they were pronounced dead.
Twice the Legal Limit
At the Wednesday hearing, Ocean County Assistant Prosecutor Kate Burke argued strongly against Schneider’s release. She told the court that toxicology results showed Schneider’s blood alcohol content stood at 0.16 percent—exactly twice New Jersey’s legal limit of 0.08 percent for operating a vessel. “The defendant consumed enough alcohol to reach a BAC of 0.16 and operate a vessel and the result was catastrophic,” Burke said.
A blood sample drawn hours after the crash led toxicologists from DrugScan Labs to conclude that Schneider was “unfit to operate” and that his alertness, sense of care and caution, perception, judgment, response time, and coordination were “markedly impaired by alcohol.”
Schneider had told New Jersey State Police that he drank two Guinness beers and one Miller Lite over the course of about two hours during dinner with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and the two grandchildren. The family had gathered at MJ’s that Sunday evening. The children had arrived with their parents on a separate boat; after the meal they asked to ride home with their grandparents. Schneider said he was traveling at roughly 20 mph when he spotted the channel marker “at the last second” and struck it with the starboard bow.
A Father’s Letter of Forgiveness and Love
Despite the devastating loss of his children, the father of Mya and Sigmund submitted a letter to the court urging Schneider’s release. Defense attorney William Cunningham read portions of it during the hearing. The father described Schneider as a devoted father-in-law who had “been there for our family in ways that words cannot fully express” and expressed gratitude “for the way he loved my children.”
Cunningham told the judge that the tragedy had “cut to the root of his family.” He offered two guarantees if Schneider were released: “He will probably never be on a boat again… he will never be ingesting alcohol again.” The judge ultimately granted conditional release. As part of the conditions, Schneider is temporarily barred from operating a boat or motor vehicle while he undergoes a court-ordered assessment.
The decision highlighted the complex web of grief, accountability, and familial bonds that often surround cases in which a relative is both the alleged perpetrator and a central figure in the family’s life. Schneider had been held since his arrest on August 14. The hearing brought into public view both the clinical details of his impairment and the emotional plea from the children’s father for leniency while the case proceeds.
How a Routine Evening Turned Deadly
Court documents paint a picture of an ordinary summer evening that unraveled in seconds. The family had enjoyed dinner together. The children, by all accounts close and described in their obituaries as sharing an “unbreakable bond,” wanted to continue the outing with their grandparents. Life jackets were on. The boat was a familiar vessel. Visibility and lighting conditions on the bay that night will likely become subjects of further examination, but the channel marker was illuminated and designated as a navigational aid.
Schneider’s account of seeing the marker only at the last moment stands in contrast to the toxicology findings that his judgment and reaction time were significantly compromised. Prosecutors will argue that the impairment directly contributed to the failure to avoid a fixed, lit object in the waterway. The defense, while not contesting the blood alcohol results in the detention hearing, has emphasized Schneider’s deep remorse and the irreversible impact on the entire family.
Mya and Sigmund were remembered by relatives as inseparable siblings who shared laughter, adventures, and countless memories. Their deaths prompted an outpouring of community support in Lacey and surrounding towns. Funeral services held days after the crash drew mourners who spoke of the children’s bright spirits and the sudden void left in their parents’ and grandparents’ lives.
Legal Road Ahead
The charges of reckless vessel homicide require prosecutors to prove that Schneider operated the boat recklessly and that his conduct caused the children’s deaths. The additional counts of operating under the influence and reckless operation will turn heavily on the toxicology evidence and the circumstances of the collision itself. Schneider remains presumed innocent. The case will move through the Ocean County court system, with further hearings and potential pretrial motions expected in the coming months.
For the Golabek family, the legal process unfolds alongside profound personal loss. The father’s decision to advocate for Schneider’s release underscores a desire to preserve what remains of the family’s relationships even as accountability is sought through the courts. Schneider’s attorney has framed the tragedy as one that has already exacted an enormous personal toll, predicting permanent changes in his client’s behavior.
Boating accidents involving alcohol remain a persistent concern on New Jersey’s waterways. State law treats vessel operation under the influence with the same seriousness as impaired driving on the roads. The 0.16 BAC reading places Schneider well into the range associated with substantial impairment of motor skills, decision-making, and hazard detection—factors that investigators say contributed to the failure to avoid a clearly marked navigational aid.
As the case progresses, both the prosecution and defense will examine every detail of that July evening: the dinner, the decision to let the children ride with their grandparents, the speed of the boat, the lighting on the bay, and the precise sequence of events after the impact. For now, Schneider has returned home under conditions that restrict his ability to operate any vessel or vehicle. The children’s father has made clear that, despite the unimaginable pain of losing Mya and Sigmund, he still sees the man who loved them as part of the family that must somehow continue.
The channel marker still stands in Barnegat Bay. The boat has been examined. The toxicology report is complete. What remains is the long process of determining responsibility in a courtroom while a family tries to live with a loss that no verdict can reverse.