Valaree Schwab

Valaree Schwab

Valaree Megan Schwab (b. 24 August 2001; d. 10 January 2018 in New Rochelle, New York, USA) was a white German American teenager and Junior at New Rochelle High School taking advanced placement and honors classes. The 16-year-old was robbed, then murdered by violent black thugs.

Life

Valaree Schwab with her parents

Memorial at Dunkin’ Donuts for New Rochelle murder victim, slain High School student Valaree Schwab

Valaree Megan Schwab, 16, of New Rochelle, NY, died on January 10, 2018. She lived here most of her life. Valaree was a Junior at New Rochelle High School taking advanced placement and honors classes. She was an outspoken political activist who rallied friends together to fight injustice. Valaree was also an avid musician. She enjoyed playing her guitar and writing her own songs. Valaree loved attending concerts, exploring New York City, and riding her bike around town. Just recently, she had earned her learner's permit and bought herself a red Camaro.

It was 10 January 2018 when a green-eyed student Valaree Schwab left school to have lunch. While she was out, the 16-year-old and her 15-year-old male friend were attacked by a gang of black teens who beat and kicked Schwab to the ground and stole her keys.

It was approximately 12:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday when Schwab walked to a Dunkin’ Donuts in New Rochelle near her school. Police say that Schwab was walking with a male friend from a McDonald’s to a Dunkin’ Donuts (646 North Avenue) when she was confronted by “a group of five or six students,” all believed to have known each other from New Rochelle High School.

Z'inah Brown, Carl Booker, and Dominique Slack then stalked her for the next hour, following her into a nearby Subway sandwich shop, where she’d run for cover, and finally into a Dunkin’ Donuts. Brown stabbed Valaree in the chest, puncturing her heart and lungs. Police say that Brown used a steak knife to stab Schwab twice in the upper torso. Brown and her friends then fled the scene of the incident.

Valaree Schwab was a smart and outspoken teenager. According to her family, Valaree was bullied at school for being so outspoken. On what should have been a typical day at school, Valaree and her boyfriend were stalked and followed to a nearby restaurant. The angry mob outside was shouting for Valaree to come outside. She and her boyfriend waited until they thought it was safe, and then exited the restaurant. What happened next would forever change the lives of several teenagers and their families.

The 16-year-old was considering studying psychology in college after graduating from New Rochelle High School. Her father, Christopher Schwab, still received mail from colleges that his daughter did not have the chance to pursue.

Minutes before she was stabbed to death with a steak knife, Valaree Schwab was punched and knocked to the ground so violently that she suffered a brain hemorrhage. The punch that felled Schwab came in the midst of a nearly hour-long ordeal at the hands of as many as 11 other teenagers, who allegedly stalked the 16-year-old New Rochelle High School junior and her boyfriend as they walked down North Avenue on Jan. 10.

Death

Valaree spent her last conscious moments after the horrific blood deed "gasping for air, clutching the hand of a young cashier", telling her she was just trying to get her house keys back. Schwab was taken by ambulance to Jacobi Medical Center, the Bronx, but was pronounced dead later that day. In a statement the following day, New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson called the incident "a profound and heartbreaking human tragedy."

She is survived by her loving father, Christopher Schwab; mother, Karen Schwab; sister, Brittney Schwab; brother, Austin Corbett; niece and nephew, Lilliana and Aiden Corbett; paternal grandparents, Mary and Philip Schwab; maternal grandfather, David Ostroski; as well as numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Valaree was preceded in passing by her older brother, Christopher "CJ" Schwab [in 2003 at the age of 18], and maternal grandmother, Cheryl Marzak.

The Funeral Mass was held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Pelham, NY on 15 January 2018. Burial arrangements were under the care of Pelham Funeral Home.

Perpetrators

• Carl Booker (b. 16 July 2000), indicted on the following: Gang Assault in the Second Degree, a class C felony, Stalking in the First Degree, a class D felony, Stalking in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor and Assault in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor; released on $25,000 bail.
• Dominique Slack (b. 30 October 2000), indicted on the following: Gang Assault in the Second Degree, a class C felony, Stalking in the First Degree, a class D felony, Stalking in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor and Assault in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor; remanded to county jail without bail.
  • On Jan. 10, 2018, the defendants, Slack and Booker, while aiding, abetting, and acting in concert with each other, another teen, a juvenile and other unnamed and unindicted co-conspirators, engaged in a course of conduct likely to cause reasonable fear of physical injury and did intentionally cause physical injury to the victim, Valaree Schwab. After stalking Schwab for some time, the group of teens, including Booker and Slack, physically confronted and assaulted Schwab on the sidewalk of North Avenue resulting in a serious physical injury to Schwab. At the time of the assault, Schwab dropped her house keys and one of the teens picked them up. Schwab then followed the group to Dunkin’ Donuts, 646 North Avenue, to try to get her keys back and was stabbed inside the restaurant. Schwab was pronounced dead later that day at Jacobi Medical Center, the Bronx. A Westchester County Grand Jury indicted Brown, Booker and Slack in March 2018. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced New Rochelle High School student Carl Booker was sentenced for stalking 16-year-old schoolmate Valaree Schwab in an incident resulting in her death. Westchester County Court Judge Barry Warhit sentenced him to “shock probation” where he will be incarcerated in Westchester County Jail for six months and five years’ probation. Carl Booker, along with Dominique Slack, pleaded guilty Dec. 14, 2018, to Stalking in the First Degree, a class D violent felony. Judge Warhit accepted the plea. In February, Slack was sentenced also to the same term.
• Z’inah Brown (b. 19 January 2001), indicted on one count of each of the following charges: Murder in the Second Degree, a class A-1 felony, Manslaughter in the First Degree, a class B felony and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor as well as Gang Assault in the Second Degree, a class C felony, Stalking in the First Degree, a class D felony and Stalking in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor.
  • Brown, a Yonkers resident who was attending New Rochelle High School, surrendered to police the day after the incident. She frequently bullied Schwab, teamed up with a pack of friends on 10 January 2018 to torment and ultimately stab Schwab to death during a prolonged assault mere blocks from New Rochelle High School, which they all attended. Z'inah Brown was sentenced today to 17 years in prison for plunging a steak knife into Schwab’s heart and lungs and leaving her bleeding on the floor. Supreme Court Justice Barry Warhit told Brown that her attack was "inexplicable" and "unforgivable," and that her "behavior that day was horrific." When she pleaded guilty, Brown admitted that she had intended to seriously injure Schwab. Brown was eligible for youthful offender status, but Warhit told her in May that he was not granting her that status because she was the "primary participant" in the attack.

Standing in a courtroom in Westchester County Court, Brittney Schwab told Brown that she hopes her sister's killing can help young people understand that they must find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts, rather than resorting to the kind of "violent rampage" that led Brown to stab her schoolmate. "Z'inah Brown, I hope you figure out a way to bear your burden, because ours is heavier each day," Brittney Schwab said. Christopher Schwab stood by his daughter's side as she spoke, and he wiped tears from his face when she finished. On the other side of the courtroom sat about 20 family members and friends of Brown, who was stoic throughout her sentencing and declined to speak when given the opportunity by state Supreme Court Justice Barry Warhit. The 17-year prison sentence was agreed to when Brown pleaded guilty in May to first-degree manslaughter, a felony. She has been held at the Westchester County jail since her arrest the day after the stabbing.

See also

• Rebecca Wood