Seaside Park Woman Who Drove Drunk, Fatally Struck Pedestrian in 2024 Enters Guilty Plea

Genell McInaw. (Photo: Ocean County Jail)

A 51-year-old Seaside Park woman accused of hitting a pedestrian and fleeing the scene while driving at nearly three times the legal limit for alcohol consumption has pleaded guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide, prosecutors in Ocean County announced Monday.

Genell McInaw, 51, of Seaside Park, pled guilty before Superior Court Judge Kenneth T. Palmer, who scheduled her sentencing for June 26, 2026. Prosecutors intend on seeking a five year term in New Jersey state prison upon sentencing.

McInaw initially faced charges stemming from the death of Robert Popovics, 75, of Seaside Park, a pedestrian who was struck by a vehicle in the area of Dupont Avenue and the Boulevard on Sept. 23, 2024. After receiving a call at about 9:30 p.m., responding officers discovered Popovics lying unconscious in the roadway with apparent serious bodily injuries. He was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune for treatment of his injuries, to which he would succumb several weeks later.

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An investigation by county and Seaside Heights police detectives determined that a dark colored sedan was traveling south on the Boulevard when it struck Popovics and fled the area. The vehicle, investigators determined, was being operated by McInaw at the time of the crash, at which point she was arrested at her residence without incident and initially charged with knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in serious bodily injury to another person.

McInaw was brought to Community Medical Center in Toms River, where a draw of her blood was obtained pursuant to a court-authorized warrant. She was then transported to the Ocean County Jail and subsequently released in accordance with the state’s bail reform law. Popovics died of his injuries Nov. 1, 2024.

According to prosecutors, McInaw’s blood-alcohol concentration at the time of the draw was .187, more than twice the legal limit of .08. A state-retained expert opined that the BAC at the time of the crash would have been approximately .21, closer to three times the limit. McInaw’s charges were upgraded to vehicular homicide three days later and she was re-arrested, but released for a second time from the jail in accordance with the state’s bail reform law.