Toxicological Results Released in Barnegat Bay Drowning

An 18-year-old man who drowned in a Barnegat Bay canoe accident in June tested under the state legal limit for alcohol consumption, according to toxicological tests released by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office today.

had a blood alcohol level of .076, said Michael Mohel, Deputy Chief of Detectives.

A person must have a blood alcohol level of .08 in New Jersey to be  considered under the influence, he said.

"He was under the legal limit," Mohel said.

Worrall and , now 18, took a canoe out into Barnegat Bay in the early hours of June 10, shortly after attending a post-graduation party. The two men — who had both graduated from only two days before — were dropped off by friends near Worrall's Balsalm Drive home in Bayville.

At some point, the canoe overturned in the darkness and both men went into the water. Murphy was able to swim back to shore. Worrall drowned.

The first notification the State Police Marine Services Division received came late in the afternoon of June 10, when an off-duty State Police officer discovered Worrall's body floating in the bay off , more than 12 hours after the accident. There was no record of Murphy calling police to notify them of the accident, authorities have said.

New Jersey State Police earlier this summer charged Murphy, now 18, with reckless operation of a boating vessel and leaving the scene of a fatal boat accident.

Murphy is slated to appear in Berkeley Township municipal court Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to be arraigned on the charges and to enter a plea, said Municipal Court Clerk Aileen Alonso today

, who grew up in the tidal marshes of Bayville, died of accidental drowning, according to an autopsy performed by the Ocean County Medical Examiner's Office the day after the June 10 accident.

The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office reviewed the June 10 accident and remanded the matter to Berkelely Township Municipal Court, Mohel has said.

Come back to Berkeley Patch later tomorrow for a story on the court proceedings.