DWI case called ‘cautionary tale’
Driver in wreck that killed UH student could face 10 years
Marshall Schoen wiped tears from his eyes as a grieving father shared tender memories of his oldest son who was hit and killed in a 2016 drunken driving crash as he walked home from a University of Houston sorority party.
Schoen, the driver in that wreck, is awaiting sentencing for intoxication manslaughter in the April 14, 2016, death of Mark Andrew Tartaglio. On Thursday, Schoen sat in front of a courtroom packed with family and friends of Tartaglio, as well as his own supporters. He looked straight ahead upon hearing that state District Judge Josh Hill intends to sentence him to 10 years in prison with the possibility of probation,
“The impact of your just plain stupid decisions, the impact could not be more dire,” Hill told Schoen. “It sounds like Mark Andrew was a hero.”
Schoen is set for official sentencing at 9 a.m. Friday. Hill said he is likely to deliver the 10-year sentence, with a provision that allows him to assess whether Schoen should be probated after six months in jail. If he is released, he could serve the remainder of his time on probation, while being confined once a year on the date of Tartaglio’s death or birthday.
Schoen’s attorney, Brett Podolsky, had argued for probation, saying that his 26-year-old client has owned up to his decisions, as evidenced by his earlier guilty plea.
“I truly believe that this man can be successful in the rest of his life,” Podolsky said. “I think the community believes that, the people that know him believe that.”
Prosecutor Lynn Nguyen noted how Harris County leads the nation in drunken driving fatalities and conversely urged Hill not to make a mistake by showing other young people that they can drive drunk and get off easy.
“This has officially become a cautionary tale,” Nguyen said. “We need to start thinking about preventing the next Marshall Schoen, protecting the next Mark Andrew.”
Tartaglio and his girlfriend, Corina Burnett, were still in costume as Sandy and Danny from the movie, “Grease,” when they were walking home around 1 a.m. on a sidewalk in the 5000 block of Calhoun, near MacGregor Way.
They had gotten off a bus taking them back from a sorority “date event” party and were going to Burnett’s apartment, which was three minutes away.
Schoen was driving home from that party with a date when he sped around a vehicle that was making a left turn, prosecutors
have said. The vehicles bumped each other, and his F-350 truck skidded on a sidewalk, hitting the young couple.
A friend testified before the judge on Thursday that when the truck came, “Mark turned around and saw it, pushed (Corina) out of the way.” She also said that she saw Schoen rendering first aid to the injured student.
Burnett, who was 19 at the time, sustained a concussion, a broken vertebra and cracked ribs. Tartaglio, 20, suffered a fatal head injury.
At the hospital, Tartaglio had a bandage on his head and was hooked up to a respirator. He was declared brain dead and pulled off life support.
“I can’t get the image out of my head,” his father, also named Mark Tartaglio, said Thursday.
Schoen, who is now 26, told police that he’d had one mixed drink and three beers. He had a red koozie in his car, but no alcohol was found.
Authorities determined that his blood-alcohol content was 0.11, which is higher than the legal limit of 0.08.
A digital forensic analyst brought forward copies of text messages taken from Schoen’s phone, dozens of which referenced to drinking, and in some cases, drugs. After a night of drinking on March 18, 2016, he asked a friend, “Why did you let me drive,” according to the messages.
Nguyen called Schoen “out of control,” prior to the fatal night.
Schoen’s stepmother, Laura, responded to the messages in her testimony, saying that drinking wasn’t her son’s whole life. And since he was charged in Tartaglio’s death, he’s become more mature and thoughtful in his actions, she said.
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that he doesn’t wake up in the morning and think about this,” Laura Schoen said.
Schoen, who was abused as a child, has also begun volunteering at church and has since been baptized, according to testimony.
He made bond less than a month after the wreck. He was also expelled from school, Podolsky said. Schoen is now engaged.
Burnett, 23, sobbed through much of the court proceedings. She and other loved ones described Tartaglio as an engineering student who loved hockey and had many friends.
“For being so young, and just a college boy, he stood out,” Burnett said.
Tartaglio’s father explained the bond between the slain student and his younger brother. He described how he has woken up to the brother banging his fists against the walls in frustration, which caused Schoen to wipe his eyes in tears.
Richard Bondi, Tartaglio’s uncle, described his nephew as joyous and bright — a real Renaissance man.
“He truly enjoyed every moment around him,” he said. “Mark Andrew was one of those people that did everything right.”