A New Jersey mother has been charged with killing her son by drunkenly crashing her boat at the Jersey Shore, just weeks before an allegedly inebriated grandfather also crashed in the same bay, killing his two grandchildren.
Jennifer Pearson, 59, smashed her 23-foot center console into the marker in Barnegat Bay near the Brant Beach Yacht Club in Long Beach around 5:45 p.m. on Memorial Day, sending her son, Gunnar Pearson, 28, and his girlfriend flying into the water, according to charging documents obtained by NJ101.5.
Gunnar and his girlfriend were rushed in critical condition to a local hospital, where he later died from his injuries. Four others onboard were hospitalized with minor injuries.
The Barnegat-based mom turned herself in to state police on Thursday after tests showed her blood alcohol level was between .09 and .12 — just over the legal limit of .08, according to court documents.
She was charged with death by vessel, operating a vessel under the influence, reckless operation of a vessel, operating a vessel without a boating safety certificate, and failure to have a proper lookout.
She is being held at the Ocean County jail pending a detention hearing. Police said the fatal crash remains under investigation.
There have now been four boating deaths on Barnegat Bay this year — all involving boats striking channel markers, which indicate where the deepest waters are for boaters. Barnegat Bay is notoriously shallow.
On July 19, sister and brother, Mya Golabek, 9, and her brother Sigmund Paul Golabek, 7, were killed when their grandfather — who was also allegedly drunk — hit a channel marker in Barnegat Bay off Bayville while they were returning from dinner at night.
Stephen Schneider, 64, who was charged with double homicide last week, had a BAC of .16 — double the legal limit, cops said. The children’s father, Schneider’s son-in-law, pleaded for a judge to release him from jail.
In another crash, Michael T. Bereheiko, 26, of Green Brook, was killed when a 32-foot Boston whaler carrying five people hit a channel marker off Toms River on July 26, according to NJ101.5.
No charges have been filed in that crash.
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