Stolarczyk guilty of manslaughter, drunken driving in death of Sharon Schuman

4:55 p.m.: This story was updated with the jury’s verdict.

7:08 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from the family of Sharon Schuman and Scott Stolarczyk, as well as more details from the last day of the trial.

A Lane County jury Thursday, April 2, convicted architect Scott Stolarczyk on charges of second-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence of intoxicants in the crash that killed Sharon Schuman last year in south Eugene.

The verdict was announced about 4:55 p.m. at the Lane County Courthouse, about 90 minutes after jurors walked out of the courtroom at 3:23 p.m. to begin deliberations.

Stolarczyk was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was announced. He had been free after serving a day in jail and posting bail in June.

Stolarczyk is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, April 8. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. As a Measure 11 crime in Oregon, second-degree manslaughter carries a mandatory minimum sentence of six years and three months.

Schuman, 79, died after being struck by Stolarczyk’s vehicle while she was jogging on the barked Amazon Trail between 9:40 and 9:45 a.m. April 23, 2025.

Stolarczyk’s blood alcohol content was 0.196%, based on testing of a hospital blood draw taken at 10:26 a.m., roughly 40 minutes after the crash, a forensic scientist testified Wednesday. The legal limit in Oregon is 0.08%.

Schuman was a professional violinist and a well-known figure in the Eugene arts community.

Her son and daughter, Ben Schuman and Rebecca Schuman, along with others who knew her, have attended the trial, which began Tuesday.

“We were really grateful that the jury paid such close attention and worked so hard for so many days,” Rebecca Schuman said after the verdict. “They endured images that we ourselves couldn’t.”

She and her brother were not present in the courtroom earlier in the day when Daniel Davis, a Lane County medical examiner, testified about the injuries that led to Schuman’s death. 

After the verdict, Lane County District Attorney Christopher Parosa called Schuman “a much beloved member of this community, and so there was a lot of grief around this terrible loss. And so for a lot of folks, hopefully this will provide some closure, and they can begin to pick up the pieces of their lives.”

Jurors heard defense witnesses testify how in the years and months leading up to the crash Stolarczyk had coughing fits. After a coughing fit, he nearly passed out at the architecture firm where he worked, colleagues testified.

“The evidence supports that this was a tragic accident caused by a medical emergency,” Stolarczyk’s defense attorney John Kolego told jurors in closing arguments.

David Jampolsky, a prosecutor with the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, in his closing argument told jurors Stolarczyk’s behavior was reckless, repeating testimony from a forensic scientist that consuming six to 7½ 12-ounce cans of beer (with a 6% alcohol content) would lead to the 0.196% blood content level for Stolarczyk.

Even if jurors believed intoxication didn’t play a factor, Jampolsky told jurors to consider whether Stolarczyk behaved recklessly by not pulling over if he experienced a coughing fit.

“Reckless is the entire point of this case. And by God he was reckless,” Jampolsky said.

Stolarczyk, 52, did not take the stand. His mother, Laura Swanson, and stepfather, Jack Swanson, were in the courtroom Thursday.

Swanson called her son a “reputable person in this community,” stating he’s worked for 26 years with the same architecture firm in Eugene. She said she disagreed with the jury’s verdict.

“It’s just like someone having a heart attack behind the wheel and loses control. He had a medical emergency,” she said.

In her instructions to jurors before they started deliberations, Lane County Circuit Judge Debra Vogt said the manslaughter charge has a lesser included offense, criminally negligent homicide.

But the judge said the jury could consider the lesser charge only if 10 or more jurors found Stolarczyk not guilty of manslaughter.

While manslaughter refers to a conscious disregard for an unjustifiable risk to life, the criminally negligent homicide charge means the person “failed to be aware” of such a risk.

Coughing arguments

During the trial, jurors saw police body-camera video in which Stolarczyk told officers that he had coughing fits in the past that left him lightheaded. He told a Eugene police detective he did not remember any part of his vehicle leaving the roadway.

During the trial, Kolego did not call any medical experts as witnesses but told jurors in his closing arguments that “Mr. Stolarczyk at some point, we have no reason to doubt this, he has a coughing fit and passes out.”

Jampolsky, in his closing argument, referred to police body-camera video in which Stolarczyk was asked by a Eugene police detective for medical records.

In the video, recorded April 30 and played for jurors Wednesday, Stolarczyk said, “I don’t know if I have any medical records around that,” and that he had mostly talked with his doctor about “nasal stuff and chest congestion.”

Jampolsky said: “Years previously he has had a condition where he can spontaneously become unconscious. But there’s really, like he said, no medical history about it.”

Later, Jampolsky added, “I’d think that would be a pretty important thing to talk to your PCP about,” using the common acronym for primary care physician.

Intoxication defense

Jurors Thursday heard testimony from an architect who had an online call with Stolarczyk the morning of the crash. James Alberson said he spoke with Stolarczyk for about an hour, with the call ending at 9:34 a.m., just a few minutes before the crash.

Kolego asked James Alberson if he noticed any signs of impairment when talking with Stolarczyk.

“None whatsoever,” Alberson said. “As we worked through pretty complex and challenging code issues, I found him to be pretty cogent,” Alberson said. 

Alberson testified that he’s known Stolarczyk for at least 10 years as they worked in the same building, but he said they were not close friends.

While the call was online, Alberson said Stolarczyk did not have a camera on, so he only heard his voice.

In closing arguments, Kolego also referred to an examination of Stolarczyk by medics at the crash site. The records showed they found neither slurred speech nor “deviated gaze,” Kolego told the jurors, stating that the report indicated no evidence of intoxication.

Kolego told jurors “I don’t know what to do” about the blood alcohol concentration evidence. He argued that “none of the other evidence seems to comport with that.”

Other testimony

Thursday began with testimony from two Eugene police officers.

The Toyota RAV4 that struck and killed Schuman after leaving Amazon Parkway traveled 170 feet though “high grass” before going airborne and striking her, a Eugene police officer said. 

“There was no evidence of braking that I could see in the grass,” said Steven Heigh, a detective with the Eugene Police Department.

Heigh said he estimated the speed of the Toyota RAV4 at 36 mph.

Another officer, Michael Klews, testified about data recorded by Stolarczyk’s vehicle in the seconds before airbags deployed.

Data on the percentage of throttle and accelerator pedal “tells me the pedal itself is being manipulated,” Klews said.

Kolego challenged Klews, asking him if it was possible that an unconscious person’s foot could come into contact with a pedal if a vehicle is traveling along rough terrain.

“I suppose it could,” Klews said.