8 FEBRUARY 13, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood man found guilty of manslaughter for
killing female roommate in 2016 knife attack: DA
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
A 29-year-old Ridgewood man
was convicted last week in the
stabbing death of his female
roommate in the apartment they
shared on Stanhope Street in 2016,
according to the Queens DA’s offi ce.
Following a bench trial in Queens
Supreme Court, Render Stetson-
Shanahan was found guilty of manslaughter
aft er the victim, Carolyn
Bush, was repeatedly stabbed to death,
according to Queens District Melinda
Katz.
According to trial testimony, shortly
before midnight on Dec. 28, 2016, police
responded to a 911 call about a man
wearing only underwear and roaming
the neighborhood with a knife.
Police found the defendant back in
his apartment, in bed and bleeding
from a self-infl icted wound to his right
thigh.
In the next room, 26-year-old Carolyn
Bush was bleeding profusely from
multiple stab wounds in her neck and
torso which caused massive injuries
to her heart, lungs and severed an artery.
The victim was taken to Wyckoff
Hospital, where she died a short time
later. Stetson-Shanahan was taken to
Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition
where he was taken into police
custody.
“This was a horribly disturbing
Render Stetson-Shanahan was found guilty of manslaughter for killing his female roommate in this Ridgewood
apartment building. Photo by Robert Stridiron
case,” Katz said. “The defendant returned
to the apartment he shared
with his roommate late one night and
stabbed her multiple times, causing
her death. The knife sliced into her
back and neck puncturing her heart,
lungs and a major artery.”
Following the non-jury trial,
Supreme Court Justice Richard L.
Buchter rendered a verdict of guilty
of manslaughter in the second degree
and set sentencing for March 26, at
which time Stetson-Shanahan faces
up to fi ve to 15 years in prison.
Bush was a writer who moved to
Ridgewood after graduating from
Bard College. Stetson-Shanahan was
an artist who also went to Bard.
Carranza to hold Elmhurst town hall amid tensions with local activists
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Department of Education Chancellor
Richard Carranza will
attend the next Community
Education Council 24 (CEC 24) town
hall in Elmhurst.
Carranza was slated to meet with
CEC 24 in December, before cancelling
his appearance to attend the
memorial service for a recently
deceased DOE official. The long
postponed meeting, which is scheduled
for 6:30 p.m. on March 2 at I.S.
5 (50-40 Jacobus St.), will dispatch
the chancellor into the district of
Councilman Robert Holden, one of
his most persistent critics, whose
education director Charlie Vavruska
was involved in Carranza’s recent
kerfuffle at the CEC 26 meeting,
which he walked out of.
According to NY1, Vavruska is
one of a group of protestors who
have been showing up at event after
event where chancellor is slated to
appear for months. Another member
of this group is the newly elected
CEC 24 President himself Phil Wong.
Their grievances include Carranza’s
SHSAT proposal and his attempts to
implement school diversity plans
across the city.
At a Jan. 28 press conference Carranza
called the band of protestors
at the Bayside town hall — including
these two figures from School District
24 – “outside agitators,” explaining
that their presence was what led
him to leave the meeting.
Since then, the chancellor has
apologized to the parents at Marie
Curie Middle School, and promised
to meet with parents at Bayside’s
Marie Curie Middle School, where
several reports of sexual harassment
and assault have recently come
to light.
Apart from recent tensions in
Bayside, School District 24 has
had problems of its own. It has the
fourth-highest level of overcrowding
in the city, according to a report
the 2018 City Council. In September,
whistleblowers at Maspeth High
School alleged that the school was
involved in a grade rigging scheme.
Councilman Holden has since asked
the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate the DOE over matter.
The Chancellor Town Hall is
scheduled to last for one hour, after
which CEC 24 will hold its regular
meeting.
Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza will attend the
next monthly Community Education Council 24 town hall on March 2.
Photo credit: Jeff Bachner
/WWW.QNS.COM
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