You are reading

Ridgewood Man Sentenced to up to 15 Years for the Brutal Slaying of Female Roommate

Carolyn Bush, 26, was stabbed to death by her roommate in the Ridgewood apartment they shared in 2016. (GoFundMe)

June 11, 2020 By Christian Murray

A Ridgewood man who fatally stabbed his roommate in 2016 has been sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Render Stetson-Shanahan, a 30-year-old artist, was found guilty of manslaughter in February, for brutally killing Carolyn Bush, 26, at their Stanhope Street apartment on Sept. 28, 2016. He was sentenced Wednesday.

“The defendant in this case showed no mercy when he repeatedly plunged a knife into this young woman’s body,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in a statement. “The victim’s heart was punctured along with her lung and a major artery.”

Stetson-Shanahan was convicted following a non-jury trial and avoided murder charges after testifying that he had a mental lapse.

According to the court documents, police responded to a 911 call shortly before midnight on Sept. 28, 2016 after Stetson-Shanahan was seen wandering the neighborhood in his underwear with a knife.

Police found Stetson-Shanahan, who had been smoking pot and drinking earlier in the day, at his apartment lying in bed bleeding from a self-inflected wound to his right thigh.

Police then discovered Bush in the next room bleeding profusely from numerous stab wounds. She had been stabbed multiple times in her neck and torso, according to court testimony. The puncture wounds caused massive injuries to her heart, lungs and severed an artery.

“This was a horribly disturbing case,” Katz said at the time of his conviction. “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.”