By Gina Martinez
Carolyn Bush came to New York after graduating from Bard College to pursue her artistic dreams, but the young poet’s life was ended by her roommate, who confessed to police that he stabbed her to death in their Ridgewood apartment, the Queens district attorney said.
Bush, 25, shared a rental at 1861 Stanhope St. with fellow Bard alumnus Render Stetson-Shanahan, 26, who admitted drinking and smoking pot before the murder, according to the criminal complaint filed by the DA.
On Sept. 28 police received a call at 11:26 p.m. from someone outside their building who told the authorities that a man had pointed and lunged at them with a knife and they were afraid for their safety, the complaint said.
When officers arrived at the apartment, they discovered Bush with multiple stab wounds and Stetson-Shanahan with a self-inflicted stab wound on his leg, DA Richard Brown said. Bush was taken to Wyckoff Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. Stetson-Shanahan was transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where he remained in stable condition and was then taken into police custody.
He has been charged with second-degree murder, the DA said. If found guilty, the artist from Rhinebeck, N.Y. could face up to 25 years in prison.
At his arraignment new details emerged about what possibly happened that night. When officers arrived, Stenton-Shanahan admitted to officers that he killed Bush, according to testimony from prosecutors based on statements the defendant had made to police and EMS workers.
“I don’t have any weapons,” Stetson-Shanahan said in one statement “I stabbed myself. I was upset. I stabbed her, my roommate . She’s in the other room. I won’tgive any confession, but I stabbed her. I just went up to her, she was on the phone. She didn’t have a chance to react. I went up to her and said ‘guess what?’ and I stabbed her.”
He then showed officers where the murder weapon was.
“The knife is right there on the floor,” he said. “There is another one in the drawer. Should be the second or third drawer, wrapped in something. Yeah, that’s it.”
While he was being taken to the hospital in the ambulance, Stenton-Shanahan told EMS personnel: “I drank a lot of beer. I smoked some weed at my brother’s house. I then took an Uber back to my house. I called my girlfriend. I stabbed myself.”
The medical examiner’s office determined Bush’s cause of death was stab wounds to the neck and torso and ruled it a homicide.
A GoFundMe page has been started for Bush, who was born in St. Petersburg, Fla., to help her family with expenses stemming from her untimely death. The page, created by her friend and former roommate, Masha Mitkov, offers insight into who exactly Bush was before she was killed. The goal was set for $7,239. Mitkov, who had lived with Bush in Red Hook, Brooklyn, expressed shock at the murder allegedly at the hands of her roommate.
“She told me about how great of a roommate she had, how well they got along, and that it was seemingly an ideal housing situation,” Mitkov said.
Bush had a wide range of interests from esoteric philosophy to mystic rituals. She was also a poet who co-founded the non-profit library and writing space “Wendy’s Subway” in Bushwick, a collaborative space that holds readings, research, screenings, discussions, writing workshops and free courses, according to the page.
Mitkov said Bush had returned to college in 2015 and was studying at the New School toward a degree in Literary Theory.
“Caroline was fierce. A passionate reader. Willing to butt heads. I’m at a loss for words.” Michael Pettinger, a literary professor at The New School, told the New School Free Press “She was able to do all those things thoughtfully… she has a rare gift.”
A vigil was held last Sunday at Wendy’s Subway celebrating Bush’s life.
Stetson-Shanahan’s website describes him as “an artist, illustrator, and sign maker. He currently resides in Queens, New York.” He is being held in Rikers Island and was expected back in court on Oct. 17
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
