Steven Schwally, alleged drunken driver in fatal Deer Park nail salon crash, wants murder charges dropped, court documents show

The alleged drunken driver who told police he drank 18 beers several hours before he crashed into a Deer Park nail salon in 2024, killing three employees and one customer, is seeking to have the murder charges dropped, arguing his alleged conduct doesn't meet the criteria for second-degree murder.

Steven Schwally, 64, of Dix Hills, who has been held without bail since the crash nearly one year ago, has pleaded not guilty to an indictment charging him with four counts of second-degree murder, under the depraved indifference theory, and other charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, assault and driving while intoxicated.

Killed in the crash were Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park, an off-duty NYPD officer, the salon's co-owner, Jian Chai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens, and salon employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50, both residents of Flushing, Queens. A child was among nine others that were injured.

In a motion filed last month, Schwally's attorney Christopher J. Cassar, of Huntington, argued some of the conduct alleged to have been committed by his client, like driving while intoxicated, is "quite clearly reckless," it does not rise to the standard laid out in the depraved indifference murder statute, which says prosecutors must establish that a "defendant's imminently dangerous acts presented a very high risk of death to others and were committed under circumstances which evinced a wanton indifference to human life or depravity of mind."

"This Court should reduce the murder charge because no evidence was presented to the grand jury establishing the critical element of 'depraved indifference to human life,'" Cassar wrote. "Evidence of driving while under the influence of alcohol, as alleged here, cannot serve to elevate a tragic automobile collision resulting in death, into the crime of murder in the second degree."

Cassar, in his motion, noted prosecutors had already charged Schwally with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, which he said the state legislature had enacted "perhaps in recognition of the inappropriateness of elevating vehicular homicide crimes such as this one to the crime of murder."

"The defendant's actions in no way demonstrated the severe degree of wantonness or disregard for human life necessary to sustain a charge of murder in the second degree," Cassar wrote. "The facts alleged and the evidence presented to the grand jury establish a prototypical vehicular manslaughter charge and not a murder charge."

The prosecution has not yet responded to Cassar's motion, he said. A spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office did not respond to an email Wednesday.

The case was set for a conference Wednesday in front of State Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead. But Cassar said Ambro adjourned the case from his chambers with Cassar appearing by telephone. Schwally was not produced in court.

Prosecutors have said Schwally, a retired Marine Corps veteran who previously worked for a private security firm, had a blood alcohol content of 0.17% — more than twice the legal limit in New York State of 0.08% — and was driving 78 mph at the time of the crash on June 28, 2024, when his 2020 Chevrolet Traverse crashed into the Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Boulevard. He told police he consumed 18 beers about 12 hours before the crash, Newsday has reported. 

Cassar has previously said a preexisting leg injury sustained by Schwally, which left him with pins in his leg and ankle, could have prevented him from taking his foot off the gas pedal, causing the crash.

Prosecutors have said five hours before the crash, Schwally, who had lived in Suffolk County for 50 years but had no regular address at the time of the crash and had been living in a hotel, bought two 375-milliliter bottles of Montebello Long Island Iced Tea Cocktail. He allegedly drove around the area where the crash later occurred after buying the alcohol, prosecutors have said.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.