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Norma Michaels, 79, of Atlantic City, died on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, when she was hit by a boat propeller just off the dock of her South Boulevard Avenue townhome.
Jeffrey Jastrzembski, 53, of Atlantic City, was charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter. Investigators said Jastrzembski's blood alcohol content was between 0.19 and 0.23 percent at the time of the crash, as previously reported by Daily Voice.
Michaels' estate is being represented by Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, who was by the family's side in announcing the wrongful death suit against Jastrzembski on Monday, May 13.
"Our mother, 79 years young, was energetic beyond belief, and she was passionate about so many things in life," Michaels' three daughters said in a joint statement. "To her, family was first, followed closely by core beliefs in the importance of community service to the underserved. She lived and led by example.
"We cannot and will not allow her untimely, entirely preventable death to just fade into the background."
Prosecutors said Jastrzembski was operating a boat in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Albany Avenue bridge just after 5 p.m. He was accused of speeding towards the docks and making a sharp left turn.
"An experienced boat operator, a neighbor of Ms. Michaels, the defendant knew the consequences of boating while intoxicated – his blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when arrested – and still, for reasons to be determined, took to the controls of a powerful outboard craft and in so doing, violently took a precious life," attorney Andrew Duffy said.
The lawyers for Michaels' family said Jastrzembski "ignored pleas from spectators on shore" to slow down while he "wildly careened" his boat into a no-wake zone toward Michaels and another person who was swimming with her. A witness also reported seeing Jastrzembski throw cans or bottles from his boat after the crash.
Jastrzembski was arrested on Thursday, Jan. 11. A grand jury indicted him on Tuesday, March 19.
Michaels was a marketing executive in the Philadelphia area. The law firm's news release called her a "fierce matriarch, self-made businesswoman, and beloved member of her community."
Attorney Robert Mongeluzzi said her daughters want to bring attention to the dangers of boating while drunk as summer approaches.
"Justice to us means holding the defendant to account for his repulsive actions and, being proactive – in our mother’s name – doing whatever we can to support agencies that license and supervise boaters," the daughters said in their statement. "We support re-doubling enforcement and public information efforts to prevent intoxicated boaters from injuring, even killing, innocent swimmers like our precious mother."
Daily Voice has reached out to Jastrzembski's attorneys for comment on the wrongful death suit. They had not responded as of press time.
The lawyers for Michaels' family said they're seeking a jury trial and an undisclosed amount of money for "compensatory and punitive damages."
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