Woman Killed After Man Takes Her on Drunken Midnight Boat Ride and Slams into Pier

A late-night outing in Boston Harbor turned into a nightmare after prosecutors say a Massachusetts man drunkenly took three young women out on a boat, then slammed the vessel head-on into a pier near Logan International Airport, killing one of them.

Lawrence Shieh, 40, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, operating a boat while intoxicated causing death, and two counts of operating a boat while intoxicated causing serious injury, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

The May 13 crash killed 24-year-old Elizabeth “Lizzie” Dankert.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Shieh had been at a bar with friends earlier that night.

After his friends left, prosecutors say he struck up a conversation with Dankert and two of her friends.

Shieh allegedly offered to take the women to his boat club, apparently as a way to impress them.

The club allows members to use boats in Boston Harbor, but members are not permitted to take the vessels out at night.

Prosecutors say Shieh ignored that rule and took a boat he did not own onto the water with the three women aboard.

The boat allegedly had no exterior lights to help illuminate the water.

Authorities also say Shieh drove into a restricted area near Logan International Airport where boats are prohibited.

Cellphone videos taken before the crash allegedly showed Shieh behaving recklessly while operating the boat.

“In the time leading up to the crash, cellphone videos recorded Shieh’s conduct, including inattentiveness at the helm, dancing, and engaging with the three young women,” Hayden said.

Prosecutors say the most alarming moment came just seconds before impact.

“Approximately six seconds before the crash, Shieh is captured on video with both hands off the wheel of the boat,” Hayden said.

Surveillance footage reportedly showed the boat traveling about 36 mph before crashing head-on into a Logan Airport runway approach pier.

Prosecutors described that speed as excessive.

The force of the impact threw everyone on the boat backward.

Dankert suffered a catastrophic injury to the back of her head and died.

Shieh and the two other women survived with injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.

Authorities say Shieh’s blood alcohol level was 0.20 after the crash, more than twice the legal limit.

Hayden said Dankert’s death was the direct result of what prosecutors describe as Shieh’s dangerous decisions that night.

“In the end, we are here today, and Lizzie Dankert is not here today because of Lawrence Shieh’s dangerous and ultimately deadly behavior,” Hayden said.

“He unlawfully took a boat out into Boston Harbor in the dead of night, he drove that boat at a reckless speed in a restricted area of the Boston Harbor,” the district attorney continued. “He did this with three young women aboard, placing their lives in imminent danger.”

Shieh has pleaded not guilty.

He is being held on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 8.

Dankert was an English major at Union College, where she also played soccer.

Her obituary remembered her as someone who loved close relationships, nature, the beach, beautiful views and trying new adventures.

“Her greatest joy was found in tight and meaningful relationships, time in nature, the beach, a beautiful view and new adventures,” her obituary said.

It also described her as hardworking and a talented athlete.

“She was a tremendous soccer player and played at the college level.”

The Dankert family’s attorney said the family had been hoping for answers and accountability since the deadly crash.

“There is some measure of relief in finally learning what happened that fateful night and seeing that the wheels of justice are in motion,” the statement said.

The family said their focus now is on trying to move forward without Lizzie and honoring the way she lived.

They want to remember her, the statement said, “with positivity and joy” rather than for the circumstances of her death.