A Seaside Park woman has been sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in a 2024 hit-and-run crash that killed a 75-year-old man.

Genell McInaw, 51, was sentenced June 24 in connection with the Sept. 23, 2024, death of Robert Popovics, of Seaside Park, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. McInaw pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide on March 16.

Authorities said Seaside Heights police responded to Dupont Avenue and the Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2024, and found Popovics unconscious in the roadway with serious injuries. Investigators determined a dark-colored sedan traveling south on the Boulevard struck him and fled the scene. The investigation identified McInaw as the driver.

Popovics died from his injuries on Nov. 1, 2024, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. Prosecutors said lab testing found McInaw's blood alcohol concentration was .187 at the time of the blood draw, and a state-retained expert estimated her BAC was approximately .21 at the time of the crash. The legal limit in New Jersey is .08.

Following Popovics' death and the blood test results, prosecutors upgraded the charges against McInaw to vehicular homicide, strict liability vehicular homicide and knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash resulting in death.