A Madison County man was arrested in the Delaware County town of Bovina on Monday and charged with second-degree murder for the death of his girlfriend, who was stabbed to death in the couple's Cazenovia home over the Labor Day weekend.
The victim, 44-year-old Amy Bradstreet, was the mother of the couple's young sons, ages 18 months and 3 years.
State police say that after Bradstreet was stabbed to death, the suspect -- 31-year-old Stephen Schumejda -- drove the two children about 100 miles to his mother's house on County Route 5 in Bovina, then called 911 to report the incident.
It was unclear whether Schumejda or his mother dialed the phone, said New York State Police spokesman Jack Keller, but the call, made around 8:35 a.m., came from the Bovina house.
"The phone call was coming from Delaware County, reporting what occurred. And that's when we sent troopers to that residence to pick him up," said New York State Police spokesperson Jack Keller.
Police investigators are still working to reconstruct the incident, Keller said. Investigators did not have an explanation for Schumejda's black eye, visible in his police mugshot.
Bradstreet was killed sometime on Sunday night or Monday morning. An autopsy conducted on Tuesday confirmed that the cause of her death was multiple stab wounds.
"We're trying to determine what his mindset was," Keller said. "We're trying to piece that timeline together now."
According to a report by the Syracuse Post-Standard, Amy Bradstreet is the daughter of Nelson town supervisor Roger Bradstreet and his wife Bonnie. The children are currently with Bradstreet's parents, Keller said.
Schumejda was arrested around 2 p.m. on Monday and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He was arraigned in Cazenovia town court on $250,000 cash bail.
The investigation is ongoing.
