Man pleads guilty in death of Huntington jogger

Dabbing at his eyes with a tissue, Shea Rosen Thursday admitted in court that he was high on Xanax when his truck struck and killed a popular teacher and karate instructor and injured her running partner in November 2008.

Rosen, who records show now lives in Plainview, pleaded guilty to the top two charges against him - second-degree vehicular manslaughter and first-degree vehicular assault - as the mother of Amanda Malloy watched from a fourth-row seat in the Riverhead courtroom.

Rosen, 20, who also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs, a misdemeanor, probably will be sentenced to 11/3 to 4 years in prison, in an agreement worked out by prosecutors and his attorney. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 13.

If he had been convicted at trial of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, he could have faced 21/3 to 7 years in prison.

Rosen responded to questions posed by Assistant District Attorney Patricia Brosco about the evening of Nov. 6, 2008, when the Dodge Durango he was driving struck Malloy and her running partner, Vincent Saunders, along the busy main thoroughfare.

As Malloy's mother listened Thursday, Rosen admitted he had taken Xanax before he struck Malloy and Saunders from behind.

Rosen, who had pleaded not guilty and has been free on $450,000 bail, is scheduled to be sentenced in September by Suffolk County Judge Martin Efman.

Malloy's mother, Barbara Malloy, left the courtroom in tears and declined to comment.

Rosen, formerly of Brookville, and family members did not respond to a reporter's questions as they walked to the elevators. Saunders, 34, who was seriously injured, could not be reached.

"It really is a very sad day," Michael Soshnick, Rosen's attorney, said afterward. "We're dealing with the loss of a wonderful human being, Amanda Malloy, and nothing that the court does can bring her back."

Malloy, 29, was a popular fourth-grade schoolteacher at John F. Kennedy Intermediate School in Deer Park who also taught martial arts.

Police said Rosen, 19 at the time, hit the pair with his sport utility vehicle and dragged them along New York Avenue before he realized that he had hit anyone.

Prosecutors agreed to the plea deal because "The family wished to avoid the trauma of a trial," said Robert Clifford, a spokesman for District Attorney Thomas Spota.

A blood test showed more Xanax than marijuana in Rosen's system, Clifford said.