By: Najla Alexander
Image by: Patch.com
Authorities in Ocean County announced that on January 9, Stephen McGuire, 48, of Howell, was sentenced by the Honorable David M. Fritch, J.S.C., to three years in New Jersey State Prison (NJSP) relative to his previously entered guilty plea to Strict Liability Vehicular Homicide in connection with an incident that occurred in Manchester Township on December 12, 2020. 
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer stated that, additionally, Judge Fritch sentenced McGuire to three years in NJSP relative to his previously entered guilty plea to Endangering the Welfare of a Child in connection with the same incident.
The sentences will run concurrently. McGuire pled guilty to both charges before Judge Fritch on November 3, 2025, OCPO officials said.
According to Ocean County officials, on December 12, 2020, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Officers from the Manchester Township Police Department responded to Heritage Minerals Mine - also known as ASARCO - on Route 70 in Whiting for a report of a motor vehicle accident with submersion. Responding Officers spoke to a group of individuals operating Utility Terrain Vehicles (UTVs). The group informed the Officers that a UTV had driven into the lake at the center of the property, causing the UTV and its passengers to be submerged.
A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad and Manchester Township Police Department revealed that a UTV being driven by McGuire, which included James Grover, 62, also of Howell, and three minors as passengers, had entered the lake, OCPO officials say. The UTV and Mr. Grover did not resurface.
The other passengers and members of the group attempted to locate Mr. Grover but were unsuccessful, OCPO officials stated. Manchester Township Police and members of the Manchester, Ridgeway, and Whiting Volunteer Fire Companies conducted an underwater dive-and-rescue operation and located the UTV, overturned and submerged in 25 feet of water. Mr. Grover was attached to the UTV by his safety harness.
Mr. Grover was removed from his safety harness, and life-saving measures were attempted by Manchester Township Emergency Medical Technicians and Robert Wood Johnson paramedics, OCPO officials said. Mr. Grover succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
In furtherance of the investigation, McGuire was taken to Community Medical Center in Toms River. A warrant was obtained for a draw of his blood; laboratory results from the blood draw revealed that McGuire had a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of .127. In the State of New Jersey, an operator of a motor vehicle is presumed to be over the legal limit for purposes of alcohol consumption where their BAC is .08 or greater, Ocean County officials stated.
According to Ocean County officials, on January 5, 2021, McGuire was arrested without incident at his residence in Howell by Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit-Vehicular Homicide Squad and Officers from the Manchester Township Police Department.
He was transported to the Ocean County Jail and subsequently released as a consequence of New Jersey Bail Reform.