Trial set for Tuesday in death of Sharon Schuman

The death of Sharon Schuman in April 2025 brought forth an outpouring of love as the Eugene and Springfield arts community mourned her loss.

More than 11 months later, the driver of the vehicle that struck and killed Schuman is due in court. 

The trial of Scott Stolarczyk, a 52-year-old architect, is scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 31, in Lane County Circuit Court. 

Indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence of intoxicants, Stolarczyk and his defense attorney, John Kolego, will have a chance to present their side of what happened on April 23, 2025.

On that day, according to Eugene police, a Toyota RAV4 driven by Stolarczyk jumped a curb, striking Schuman as the 79-year-old former University of Oregon literature professor was jogging on the Amazon Trail. 

The collision took place at about 9:45 a.m. on the 2500 block of Amazon Parkway, with Stolarczyk, a Eugene resident, taken to a hospital afterward where he was treated and released.

Few updates about the case have been made public, but Eugene police obtained a warrant for a blood draw at the hospital. A state police lab determined Stolarczyk’s blood alcohol concentration to be 0.196%, more than double the legal limit of 0.08%, according to court documents.

Who was Sharon Schuman?

If music was Schuman’s enduring passion, it never defined or limited her.

A professional violinist for more than 40 years, Schuman also taught literature at the University of Oregon’s Clark Honors College from 1995 until 2007. Earlier, she had taught at Willamette University.

In the music world, Schuman cofounded in 2008 a chamber music group, Chamber Music Amici, a resident performing arts ensemble for The Wildish Theater in Springfield.

Her two children, Ben and Rebecca, recalled a whirlwind of activity that included time for family.

“She was really good at balancing the obligations of being a parent as well as having a full professional career in teaching with being a musician,” Ben Schuman said after his mother’s death, describing her as always “a person who’s super-busy.”

A runner for decades, Schuman in 1996 completed the Boston Marathon.

Preceded in death by her husband, David Schuman, a judge and UO law professor, Schuman also found time for fundraising and community service, performing on the violin to raise money for the Fanconi Cancer Foundation.

She served on the board of directors for SquareOne Villages, which provides shelter options for the unhoused, volunteering for 10 years.

Her death “left a huge hole in the community,” Dan Bryant, public advocacy director of SquareOne Villages, told Lookout last April.

After Stolarczyk pleaded not guilty last June, Rebecca Schuman said: “All of us remain devastated at the loss of my mother and we are committed to the pursuit of justice.”

What has happened in the case so far?

Police took weeks to investigate the crash scene. 

An affidavit of probable cause included a description of an interview between a police officer and Stolarczyk after the crash in which the architect allegedly spoke of a health problem dating back more than three years involving a heavy cough and congestion.

Stolarczyk “described that basically he blacks out for a short amount of time if he had a really strong coughing attack,” according to the affidavit from Detective Ryan Trullinger with the Eugene Police Department. “Stolarczyk thinks that this is what happened and that he blacked out in the car momentarily and lost control,” the affidavit states.

After a grand jury June 4 indicted Stolarczyk, he spent a day in jail before pleading not guilty and paying $17,500 — 10% of his bail amount — to be released on electronic monitoring.

Defendants are charged fees for remaining free on electronic monitoring, and Judge Curtis Conover on Aug. 29 reduced Stolarczyk’s daily payment from $52 to $10 after a motion by Kolego stating he had already paid more than $4,000 in fees.

The conditions for Stolarczyk’s release also include a prohibition on buying or consuming alcoholic beverages, according to court documents.

Since his release, Stolarczyk has appeared in court only a few times, with a March trial date first set last September.

“At the advice of my attorney, I’m not going to say anything at this point,” Stolarczyk said after appearing in court Sept. 15.

Lane County Circuit Court Judge Debra Vogt took on the case Sept. 23, issuing a scheduling order in January to set the current trial start date.

Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa filed a one-paragraph notice March 13 to say medical records of Stolarczyk obtained as part of the criminal investigation will be presented at trial.

“Those records were previously provided in discovery with an affidavit or declaration by the custodian of records attesting to the authenticity and reliability of said records,” the court notice stated.

If convicted of second-degree manslaughter, Stolarczyk faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The driving under the influence of intoxicants charge is a misdemeanor.