Grandfather charged after children drown in alleged DUI boat crash in New Jersey

According to court documents, Stephen Schneider, 64, was charged Friday with two counts of reckless vessel homicide after his grandson and granddaughter died in a boat accident on Barnegat Bay. The siblings, Mya Golabek, 9, and Sigmund Paul Golabek, 7, had been meeting Schneider and his wife following a family dinner at MJ’s Restaurant in Bayville on July 19. After the meal, the children requested to go back to their grandparents' house, prompting the families to split up.

Both children wore life jackets but were found face-down in the water; Schneider and his spouse attempted CPR but the children later succumbed at a hospital. Police reported Schneider was unfit to operate the vessel due to alcohol impairment, though his blood-alcohol content was not disclosed. The incident led to charges of reckless vessel homicide, operating a vessel under the influence, and reckless operation of a vessel. Schneider resides in a $1 million waterfront home in Bayville, Ocean County.