A Suffolk County judge set $25,000 cash bail for a Boston man who prosecutors say stole a boat, drank himself to twice the legal limit, and killed a 24-year-old college graduate—meaning the accused could walk free for the price of a used car.
Lawrence Shieh, 40, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and a stack of other charges at his arraignment Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court. His lawyer told the court he expects Shieh to post bail. If he does, he walks while Elizabeth "Lizzie" Dankert stays in the ground.
The facts, as laid out by District Attorney Kevin Hayden, are damning. On May 13, Shieh drank "a mix of alcoholic beverages" at the ReelHouse and several other bars in Boston's Seaport District, according to prosecutors. He then took a Freedom Boat Club vessel without authorization—"taken without permission and operated outside the knowledge and control of the Club, well after the Club had closed for the day," the club told WCVB. Shieh picked up Dankert and two friends, both 23, and drove the boat into restricted waters near Logan Airport, where he slammed the vessel into a pier.
Dankert was killed. Her two friends were seriously injured.
Blood testing after the crash recorded Shieh's blood alcohol at .20—more than twice the .08 legal limit in Massachusetts. Cell phone videos from aboard the boat showed Shieh's "inattentiveness at the helm, dancing and engaging with the three young women" in the moments before impact, Hayden said.
The New York Post highlighted that the boat was stolen and that Dankert was an "exceptional student-athlete" at Union College, where she played soccer and graduated in 2024. The Boston Herald focused on the arraignment proceedings and noted that Dankert's family attended court but declined to comment. The Post also reported the additional charge of an airport security violation due to the crash's proximity to Logan—details the Herald omitted.
Shieh faces involuntary manslaughter, operating a boat while intoxicated causing death, two counts of operating a boat while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, using a boat without authority, and an airport security violation.
And the price tag for all of that carnage? Twenty-five thousand dollars. Shieh's lawyer expects him to pay it. In Massachusetts, that's what the system says a young woman's life is worth on bail—the cost of a modest used sedan.
Dankert's family sat in that courtroom Wednesday morning. They declined to speak. The silence of grieving parents in a system that prioritizes the accused's freedom over the victim's memory says enough.
