Prosecutors say Stephen Schneider had a 0.16 blood alcohol level after the July 19 collision that killed his two grandchildren.
BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A Bayville grandfather faces homicide and boating-under-the-influence charges after authorities said the vessel he was operating struck a channel marker in Barnegat Bay, throwing his two young grandchildren into the water and causing injuries that proved fatal.
Stephen Schneider, 64, is charged with two counts of reckless vessel homicide, also described as death by vessel, along with operating a vessel under the influence and reckless operation of a vessel. The July 19 crash killed Mya Bella Golabek, 9, and her brother, Sigmund Paul Golabek, 7, of Lacey Township. Schneider has not been convicted, and the charges against him remain allegations as the criminal case moves through court.
A 911 recording published this week provided new detail about the immediate aftermath of the nighttime collision. The children’s grandmother, Laurie Schneider, told a dispatcher that the children were unconscious and that one had been brought back onto the boat while her husband was still in the water trying to recover the other child. The recording captures efforts to identify the family’s location near the channel marker while emergency responders were being sent to the scene.
New Jersey State Police said the crash occurred shortly after 9 p.m. in the Berkeley Township area of Barnegat Bay. Schneider was operating a Tidewater Custom 280 with his wife and the two children aboard when the vessel struck an Intracoastal Waterway channel marker. The impact threw Mya and Sigmund into the water. Their grandparents recovered them, and emergency medical efforts continued as the children were taken to a hospital, where both were pronounced dead.
Court records provide additional details about the trip before the collision. Schneider told investigators that the family had eaten dinner together at a Bayville restaurant and that the children chose to return with their grandparents by boat. The children were wearing life jackets and were seated near the front of the vessel, according to the records. Schneider told police he was traveling about 20 mph when he saw channel marker No. 39 at the last moment before the boat struck it with the starboard side of the bow.
The same records say Schneider told investigators he had consumed two Guinness beers and a Miller Lite during roughly two hours at dinner. Prosecutors later said laboratory testing showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16, twice the 0.08 threshold cited in reports about the case. The probable cause affidavit said investigators concluded that alcohol had significantly affected Schneider’s alertness, judgment, perception, response time and coordination. Those findings form part of the prosecution’s allegations and will be subject to the court process.
Authorities charged Schneider nearly a month after the crash. State Police said he voluntarily surrendered Aug. 14 in an operation involving State Police investigators, the Marine Bureau and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. He was initially held in the Ocean County Jail while prosecutors sought his continued detention. Police have said their investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
A judge later ordered Schneider released under conditions while the case is pending. Prosecutors argued at the detention hearing that the alleged alcohol level and the severity of the crash supported keeping him jailed. The defense argued that the collision was not intentional and asked the court to permit his release. The children’s parents also submitted letters supporting Schneider’s release, according to reports from the hearing. Superior Court Judge Wendel Daniels allowed him to leave jail pending further proceedings.
Under the release conditions, Schneider is temporarily barred from operating a boat or motor vehicle and must undergo a court-ordered assessment. His attorney told the court that Schneider would not operate a boat again and would stop drinking alcohol. Those statements were made as part of the defense’s request for release and do not resolve the criminal allegations against him.
The condition of the channel marker has also emerged as an issue in the case. Court records described marker No. 39 as an illuminated navigational aid, and police accounts have said its lighting was functioning. Schneider’s defense, however, told the court it wanted to examine whether the marker was lighted or unlighted when the collision occurred. That question has not been resolved through a court finding.
The children’s deaths have left the family confronting both a criminal case and the loss of two siblings relatives described as exceptionally close. Public memorial information remembered Mya as active and fun-loving and Sigmund, known as Siggy, as adventurous and sometimes shy. Their family held services after their deaths in July. The parents’ support for Schneider’s release was presented to the judge as part of the detention proceeding and did not affect the prosecution’s obligation to prove the charges.
Schneider remains free under court-imposed conditions while the case proceeds. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. The newly published emergency recording adds detail to what happened immediately after the crash but does not determine criminal responsibility, which remains before the court.
Author note: Last updated August 28, 2026.