Incident location, Long Island
Zi Zhang, 50, and injured nine others. Schwally faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Zi Zhang, 50. Nine others were injured, including a 12-year-old girl who required surgery. ---FAQ--- Q: What was Steven Schwally’s blood alcohol level at the time of the crash? A: Schwally had a recorded blood alcohol concentration of .17% at the time of the crash — more than double New York’s legal limit of .08%. Prosecutors say he had been drinking for more than five hours before the crash, consuming beer and Long Island iced tea liquor. ---FAQ--- Q: What charges was Steven Schwally convicted of? A: Following a jury trial, Schwally was convicted of four counts of murder in the second degree, manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, reckless driving, and several misdemeanors. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life on the top charge alone. ---FAQ--- Q: What was Schwally’s defense at trial? A: Schwally’s attorney Christopher Cassar argued that his client lost control of the vehicle due to a leg disability that prevented him from moving his foot off the gas pedal, and that Schwally did not slur his words or stumble after the crash. Cassar said he intends to appeal the murder convictions to the Court of Appeals. ---FAQ--- Q: Where was Steven Schwally living at the time of the crash? A: At the time of the June 28, 2024, crash, Schwally was living at the Commack Motor Inn. An empty bottle of Long Island iced tea liquor was found in his hotel room there, in addition to two empty pints and one full bottle recovered from his vehicle.
What Happened
A Suffolk County jury found Steven Schwally, 66, guilty on all charges Thursday — including four counts of murder in the second degree — for the catastrophic June 28, 2024, crash in which he drove his SUV into Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park at nearly 80 miles per hour, killing four people and injuring nine others, according to The New York Post.
The four victims killed in the crash were off-duty NYPD officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, who had been inside the salon getting a manicure ahead of a wedding; salon owner Jian Chai Chen, 37; and salon employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50. Among the nine injured was a 12-year-old girl who required surgery. “Customers and workers went into a nail salon on an ordinary Friday June afternoon and four of them never came home, because Steven Schwally made the selfish choice to drink and drive,” Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement following the verdict.
Prosecutors say Schwally had been drinking for more than five hours before the crash. He initially told police he had consumed 18 bottles of beer, but investigators determined he was more significantly intoxicated by Long Island iced tea liquor he had purchased earlier that morning at a liquor store located in the very same strip mall as the nail salon. Two empty pints and one full bottle of Long Island iced tea were recovered from his vehicle; a fourth empty bottle was found in his room at the Commack Motor Inn, where he was living at the time. His recorded blood alcohol concentration was .17% — more than double New York’s legal limit of .08% — according to prosecutors, as The New York Post reported.
The sequence of events leading up to the deadly crash was captured on surveillance video that went viral and was played at trial. Before striking the salon, Schwally’s vehicle swerved around cars and into pedestrian zones, narrowly missing two women walking in front of a Kohl’s on Commack Road. His erratic driving escalated as he sped southbound through the parking lot — dodging a car making a left-hand turn, veering into oncoming traffic to avoid a second car on the shoulder, and blowing through four stop signs and five crosswalks. When Schwally reached a red light at the end of the parking lot, rather than stopping behind a waiting vehicle, he crossed into the northbound lane, ran the red light at the intersection of Grand Boulevard, and accelerated to 78 mph. His SUV went airborne, careened across Grand Boulevard, plowed through a strip mall parking sign, and crashed entirely through the front of Hawaii Nail & Spa — without braking at any point, according to prosecutors.
When first responders arrived at the scene, Schwally reportedly shouted, “Get me out of here… I’m a Marine!” At the time of his arrest, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, “Schwally was observed to be intoxicated, having an odor of alcohol on his breath, slurred speech, bloodshot/watery eyes, and he appeared agitated at times.”
Schwally’s defense attorney, Christopher Cassar, argued at trial that his client lost control of the vehicle because of a leg disability that prevented him from moving his foot off the gas pedal, and maintained that Schwally neither slurred his words nor stumbled when he exited the vehicle after the crash. Cassar claimed the video showed Schwally attempting to swerve to avoid other vehicles and said he is “confident that, based on the murder counts, that the court of appeals will look at it and overturn it.” The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office directly disputed those claims, pointing to court documents and surveillance footage showing Schwally’s sustained, escalating pattern of dangerous driving in the moments before impact.
Location & Road Context
Hawaii Nail & Spa is located in a commercial strip mall along Commack Road in Deer Park, near its intersection with Grand Boulevard — a busy retail corridor in western Suffolk County with several shopping centers, a Kohl’s, and other businesses generating heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic. The liquor store where Schwally purchased his alcohol that morning was located in the same strip mall as the nail salon he later destroyed. Deer Park falls within the Town of Babylon; for more local traffic conditions along this corridor, see our Deer Park town page.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Following a jury trial, Schwally was convicted Thursday of four counts of murder in the second degree, as well as manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, reckless driving, and several misdemeanors. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life on the top murder charge alone. “We’re very thankful for the jury’s verdict today,” said Chief Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Allen Bode. “They ratified the fact that this was not an accident, this was a crime.”
Schwally has not been present at his trial since suffering a heart attack in jail on May 21. However, Bode stated that the now-convicted killer “needs to hear what these families” of the victims have to say at sentencing, and that accommodations will be made if necessary, as Newsday reported. A sentencing date has not yet been announced publicly.
What This DWI Charge Means
New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law §1192 establishes a tiered system of impaired-driving offenses. A driver with a BAC of .05–.07% can be charged with Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI), a traffic infraction. A BAC of .08% or higher constitutes Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), a misdemeanor on a first offense. When a driver’s BAC reaches .18% or above, the charge escalates to Aggravated DWI — a more serious misdemeanor on a first offense, carrying mandatory fines between $1,000 and $2,500, a minimum one-year license revocation, and the possibility of up to one year in jail. Schwally’s recorded BAC of .17% placed him just below the Aggravated DWI threshold, but prosecutors pursued felony-level charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree murder, given the deaths involved. Repeat DWI offenders in New York face felony charges, longer license revocations, and mandatory ignition interlock device installation upon any reinstatement.
When a driver refuses to submit to a chemical test in New York, the DMV automatically imposes a one-year license revocation — regardless of whether any criminal charges are filed — and the refusal itself can be used as evidence against the driver in court. In cases involving fatalities, as here, prosecutors can also pursue charges under New York Penal Law for depraved indifference murder, which is precisely what the jury upheld in finding Schwally guilty on four counts of second-degree murder. The conviction signals that the jury agreed Schwally’s conduct rose far beyond negligence into criminally reckless disregard for human life.
Case Status & Updates
Steven Schwally has been convicted on all charges following a jury trial. It is important to note that while charges represent accusations, the jury in this case has returned a verdict of guilty. Schwally faces sentencing in Suffolk County court, where he could receive up to 25 years to life in prison on each of the four murder counts. Long Island Traffic will continue to monitor this case and will update this report with sentencing details, any appellate proceedings, and additional court outcomes as they become part of the public record. Defense attorney Christopher Cassar has already indicated his intention to appeal the murder convictions to the New York Court of Appeals.
Broader Impact
The conviction of Steven Schwally marks one of the most significant drunk-driving murder verdicts in recent Suffolk County history, and District Attorney Raymond Tierney’s office used the occasion to reinforce a clear message: “Drunken driving is not an accident, it is a deadly serious crime.” For Long Islanders who have been injured or lost loved ones in impaired-driving crashes, our Know Your Rights page provides guidance on legal options available to victims and their families under New York law.