A Rocky Hill man was charged with manslaughter Friday in connection with a July 10, 2022, boating crash in Portland that claimed the life of a Waterford man.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Environmental Conservation Police announced they had charged Kerry Sheltra, 55, with second-degree manslaughter, three counts of second-degree assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor. He was released on a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Dec. 7 in Middletown Superior Court.

Wayne Hamler, 60, died and seven other people were injured when police said the 21-foot Yamaha jet boat which Sheltra was operating north on the Connecticut River veered into the shoreline striking some rocks and ejecting numerous people from the boat. Hamler, a longtime Electric Boat employee, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hamler’s estate has sued Sheltra, alleging he caused the fatal crash by operating the vessel in a reckless manner in a “slow-no-wake" zone while under the influence of liquor or drugs.