Columbia University student dies in dorm fall
Martha Corey-Ochoa, 18, the 2012 Dobbs Ferry High School valedictorian, died from a fall at Columbia University on Aug. 27, 2012 in what is being investigated as an apparent suicide, officials said. Credit: Dobbs Ferry High School
The death of a Columbia University freshman who fell Monday night from a 14th-floor dormitory window is being investigated as an apparent suicide, officials said.
Martha Corey-Ochoa, 18, newly arrived on the Manhattan campus before the start of classes, died in a fall from John Jay Hall at 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, a university official said.
The chief medical examiner's office said an autopsy will be done Wednesday to determine the cause of death.
In a message to "Columbia Families," Columbia's dean of student affairs, Kevin G. Shollenberger, said Corey-Ochoa "was passionate about mathematics and literature, and recognized as a very talented writer."
Last spring, she was the valedictorian at Dobbs Ferry High School in Westchester County.
The night of the fall, Columbia students said they were sitting in the dorm lounge when police started coming into the building.
"We were up in a lounge and then there were a bunch of cops coming in. I didn't know what was going on," said Greg Cleveland, 18, who moved into the dorm Sunday. Students said they were shocked but appreciated university efforts to provide counseling.
Corey-Ochoa's close friend Rebecca Lowey, a fellow graduate of Dobbs Ferry High, said she was stunned by the news. Just four days ago, she had dinner and ice cream with Corey-Ochoa.
"Martha was brilliant; she was truly an intellectual," Lowey said after visiting Corey-Ochoa's parents at their Dobbs Ferry home.
The parents, Melinda Corey and George Ochoa, declined to speak with reporters.
Corey-Ochoa attended elementary, middle and high school in the Dobbs Ferry district. She took rigorous courses and worked on independent projects, including a political romance novel set in the 17th century and a sonata for violin, officials said.
In her valedictory speech, Corey-Ochoa talked about love, referencing physics and mathematics principles as well as history and literature.
"May the love that has united us for these four years endure within us and around us for the rest of our lives," she told her classmates.
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