Harrison REVIEW THE
February 16, 2018 | Vol. 6, Number 7 | www.harrisonreview.com
Killian gets GOP nomination for Senate By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
Boundless Adventures, an aerial outdoor park with several obstacle courses, will open its first New York state location in Harrison this month. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy Lorrie Funtleyder
Fox sentenced in Manhattanvile student’s death By FRANCO FINO Staff Writer Rye resident Emma Fox has been sentenced to six months in jail, followed by five years of probation, for the death of Manhattanville College student Robby Schartner in 2016. According to Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino, Fox, 26, has been sentenced on second-degree vehicular manslaughter and a charge of DWI for striking and killing Schartner, who was 21 years old at the time of his death. In October 2016, Schartner was returning from a night out in downtown White Plains around 5 a.m. when he was run over
on Westchester Avenue by Fox, whose blood alcohol content was 0.21 at the time of her arrest; the legal limit in New York is 0.08. After striking the college student, who was found along the shoulder of Westchester Avenue near the entrance to eastbound Interstate 287, Fox drove approximately half a mile before stopping her car, a 2012 Nissan Sentra, near Meadowbrook Road. According to the district attorney’s office, a passing motorist called 911 after noticing damage to Fox’s car. As part of her sentence, Fox’s license has been revoked and she will be required to wear an alcohol-monitoring device and an ig-
nition interlock device must be installed on any vehicle in her household. Originally, Fox was facing up to seven years in Westchester County jail. However, in November, Judge Helen Blackwood promised to sentence Fox to “shock probation,” a split sentence that still included time in jail. In the U.S., a split sentence is a term in which a defendant serves up to half of a term of imprisonment outside of jail or prison. On Feb. 7, Fox told the court, “There’s not a day since Oct. 9, 2016, that I don’t think about what happened and the pain I have caused the Schartner family.”
Schartner’s mother, Donna Juliette Ann Hall, was not present for the sentencing, but his stepfather, Scott Hall, read a statement to the court on her behalf. After describing Schartner as “caring, thoughtful, smart and charismatic,” he said of Fox, “People say she’s made a mistake. There was no mistake. You made a decision to drink and drive.” Last August, the Schartner family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Fox and The Pub, the Rye bar where the defendant drank for hours before killing the college student. As of press time, the suit is still pending. CONTACT: franco@hometwn.com
With the Republican nomination in the rearview, former Rye City Councilwoman Julie Killian will prepare to take on Democratic candidate and state Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer in an upcoming special election for a crucial state Senate seat. On Feb. 7, Killian won the nomination in a vote by Republican district leaders over candidate Dan Schorr, a former inspector general in Yonkers and previous candidate for Westchester district attorney. Both Schorr and Sarmad Khojasteh, who stepped aside just days prior to the nomination process, have pledged their support for Killian. The nomination will kickstart Killian’s second attempt to win the 37th District state Senate seat after a failed bid to unseat current Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat, in 2016. Because of a special election, there will be no primary following the nomination process. Similar to her bid in 2016, Killian—who served on the Rye City Council between 2012 and 2017—will run on a platform of reform and bucking an Albany establishment through term limits and a redistribution of school aid. Both Democrats and Republicans consider the open seat— which was vacated by Latimer, who assumed his role as county executive in January—to be a critical one as Republicans currently maintain just a one-seat majority in the state Senate. In New York, Democrats currently control the Assembly and governorship. While Killian will position herself as an alternative to establishment politicians, Mayer will look to capitalize on a reinvigorated Democratic voting base, fueled in large part by opposition to President Donald Trump, that prompted an influx of Democrat-
Former Rye City Councilwoman Julie Killian, a Republican, will go head-to-head against state Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, a Democrat, for the vacant District 37 state Senate seat after receiving the nomination from her party this week. File photo
ic votes across the county in November. The resurgence catapulted Latimer and local Democrats across the county to a convincing win over seven-year incumbent County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, and established a new super majority of Democrats in the county’s Board of Legislators. Both candidates will look to establish a quick presence in an expedited race that will be decided in a special election on April 24th, a date decided by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, earlier this year. The seat is one of two open seats in the state Senate and the winners will face a quick re-election turn around in November when state legislators will run for a new two-year term. The 37th Senate District encompasses the cities of Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle and Rye; the towns of Eastchester, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Rye, Bedford and North Castle; and the villages of Harrison, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, Rye Brook and Port Chester. Killian could not be reached for comment as of press time. CONTACT: james@hometwn.com