Nov. 29, 2017 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. today announced that Emma Fox of Rye, NY pleaded guilty today to vehicular manslaughter and DWI charges in the death of Manhattanville College student, Robert Schartner. She faces up to seven years in state prison when she is sentenced on Feb. 7, 2018.

Specifically, Fox, 25, pleaded guilty before Judge Helen Blackwood to:

  • one count of Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class “D” Felony
  • one count of Driving While Intoxicated, a class “A” Misdemeanor.

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, then a 21-year-old Manhattanville college student who was running back to his dorm from a location in downtown White Plains.

After striking Schartner, Fox drove approximately one-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 an odor of alcohol on Fox’s breath. Standard Field Sobriety tests were conducted, which Fox failed. She was arrested and transported 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 was above .08 percent.

An autopsy of the victim 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. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jean Prisco of the Investigations Division.

Emma Fox

Emma Fox

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Media contact: Deidra Thomas
111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
White Plains, NY 10601
Tel: (914) 995-3586
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