Jurors fail to reach verdict in Steven Schwally's murder trial in Deer Park nail salon crash

The jury in the murder trial of a Dix Hills man who allegedly drove into a Deer Park nail salon while intoxicated and killed four people in 2024 failed to reach a verdict on the first day of deliberations on Wednesday in Riverhead.

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro ordered the jury to return to his courtroom on Thursday morning to continue deliberations in the depraved indifference murder trial of Steven Schwally, 66. The jurors deliberated for roughly 5½ hours after the judge's instructions before going home for the day.

The jurors sent three notes to Ambro while they deliberated on Wednesday. The first, sent shortly after noon, asked for the judge to reread the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. The second, sent at 3:40 p.m., asked the judge to give them a definition of depraved indifference.

The third, sent just before Ambro dismissed the jury at 5 p.m., asked to review testimony from Brian Whitehead, a Suffolk police detective who interviewed Schwally after the fatal crash. Ambro said a court reporter will read back the testimony when the jury returns to court at 10:30 a.m.

Suffolk County prosecutors said Schwally had been drinking and driving around Deer Park for several hours before the June 28, 2024, crash that killed Hawaii Nail & Spa owner Jian Chai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; salon employees Yan Xu, 41, and Mei Zi Zhang, 50, both of Flushing, Queens; and off-duty NYPD Officer Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park. Nine people were also injured in the crash.

Prosecutors Carl Borelli and Alexander Bopp said Schwally was driving 78 mph right before the crash and his blood alcohol content was 0.17%, more than double the legal limit.

Law-enforcement personnel, including uniformed NYPD officers, jammed into Ambro’s courtroom this week to hear closing arguments and await the jury’s verdict. Rennhack’s husband, NYPD Det. Carl Rennhack, and other family members have been constant presences at the trial, but they have declined to talk to reporters.

Schwally, charged with four counts of second-degree murder and other counts detailed in a 2024 indictment, pleaded not guilty to the charges. He twice rejected Ambro’s plea offer of 22 years to life in prison and faces up to 25 years to life if convicted of the top charges.

On Monday, the judge dismissed a single assault charge related to a crash survivor who was not among the roughly 40 witnesses called by prosecutors to testify

The prosecution rested on Monday, and defense attorney Christopher Cassar chose not to call additional witnesses.

Cassar argued Schwally lost control of his 2020 Chevrolet Traverse and drove across a crowded parking lot and into the salon because he suffers from a leg disability and could not move his foot from the gas pedal. Schwally, he said in his closing argument on Tuesday, did not appear to stumble or slur his words in surveillance video recorded hours before the crash.

Cassar also said blood drawn from Schwally that purportedly showed his blood alcohol level well above the legal limit had been contaminated, perhaps by police.

Schwally has not attended the trial since suffering a heart attack more than a week ago and is not expected to be present when the jury delivers its verdict.

Prosecutors repeatedly displayed video of the aftermath of the crash that showed Schwally’s vehicle resting in the back of the salon with several victims trapped underneath. Thick dust choked the air as stunned customers and employees wailed in pain and fear. Broken glass and salon chairs carpeted the ground.