A judge found a Queens man guilty of manslaughter for fatally stabbing a young poet with whom he shared an apartment nearly four years ago.
Render Stetson-Shanahan, 29, of Stanhope Street in Ridgewood was convicted Thursday of seocnd-degree manslaughter and faces between 5 and 15 years in prison, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter rendered the verdict following a bench trial; Stetson-Shanahan previously waived his right to a trial by jury.
Stetson-Shanahan stabbed Carolyn Bush, 25, following an argument in their Stanhope Street apartment back on Sept. 28, 2016. The criminal complaint from the case noted that Stetson-Shanahan had admitted to smoking pot and drinking before the rampage.
“This was a horribly disturbing 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.”
Officers from the 104th Precinct responded to a 911 call just before midnight on Sept. 28, 2016. A caller had reported seeing a man roaming the area wearing only his underwear and carrying a knife.
Upon arriving at the scene, cops found Stetson-Shanahan back at his Stanhope Street apartment, lying on his bed and bleeding from a self-inflicted stab wound to his right thigh.
Responding officers then found Bush in a nearby room with multiple stab wounds to her neck and torso. An autopsy later revealed that the puncture wounds severed an artery and caused massive injuries to her heart and lungs.
Bush died shortly after paramedics brought her to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center. Stetson-Shanahan was treated for his injury at Elmhurst Hospital and charged following questioning.
