Plea In Drunk Driving Death Of College Student

RYE, NY — A plea was entered in court Wednesday in the death of a Manhattanville College student last year. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. today announced that Emma Fox, 25, of Rye, pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and DWI charges in the death of Robert Schartner. Fox faces up to seven years in state prison when she is sentenced on Feb. 7, 2018.

Fox pleaded guilty before Judge Helen Blackwood to the following:

• one count of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, a felony
• one count of driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor

Scarpino said, on Oct. 9, 2016, at approximately 4:50 a.m., Fox was driving her 2012 Nissan Sentra eastbound on Westchester Avenue in White Plains when she struck and killed Schartner, 21, a Manhattanville College student from Fishkill who was running back to his dorm from a location in downtown White Plains.

After striking Schartner, Fox drove approximately a half mile before stopping her car on the right shoulder of Westchester Avenue near Meadowbrook Road. A passing motorist saw that her car had sustained substantial damage to the windshield and called 911.

Police responding to the scene found Schartner unconscious on the shoulder of Westchester Avenue near the entrance to eastbound Interstate 287. He had severe trauma to the back of his head, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

White Plains police officers detected the odor of alcohol on Fox’s breath. Standard field sobriety tests were conducted, which Fox failed, police. She was arrested and taken to White Plains Police Department Headquarters.

Fox was then taken to White Plains Hospital where she consented to a blood and urine test. Testing revealed that her blood alcohol content was above 0.08 percent.

An autopsy of Schartner revealed that the cause of death was blunt force trauma of the body with fractures of skull and ribs, lacerations of brain, lungs, liver and internal hemorrhages.

In addition to vehicular manslaughter, Fox was also originally charged with two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving, misdemeanors, and driving in excess of maximum speed limits, a violation.

Photo caption: Emma Fox. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney's Office.