New York City Conducts Autopsy for Dobbs Ferry’s Martha Corey-Ochoa

An autopsy is expected to reveal the cause of death of Dobbs Ferry’s 2012 Valedictorian Martha Corey-Ochoa, who was not only known for her extraordinary intelligence, but also her unfailing kindness. 

New York City Police said they are investigating the 18-year-old’s death as a death on arrival pending the outcome of the autopsy. The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner said it expects to have the results late Wednesday afternoon. Corey-Ochoa fell to her death from a 14^th floor dorm window at Columbia University’s John Jay Hall onto 114^th Street and Amsterdam Avenue around 11 p.m. Monday night.

Fandaily.info reports that Corey-Ochoa moved to Dobbs Ferry from Brooklyn when she was 2-year-old and that her father, George Ochoa, is a Columbia graduate and medical writer for Manhattan’s McMahon Group and her mother, Melinda Corey, works as a Mercy College Professor. Corey-Ochoa attended Dobbs Ferry Schools from elementary school until she graduated from the high school as valedictorian in June.

Corey-Ochoa maintained a rigorous course load while at DFHS and planned to double major in English and mathematics at Columbia University, where she was a freshman.  She told Rivertowns Patch in September 2011 that she was working on a political romance novel set in the 17^th century and a sonata on the violin, which she had played since the third grade. 

Corey-Ochoa, a finalist in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program was a member of the Dobbs Ferry High School orchestra, participated in the Westchester Youth Orchestra and All-County Intermediate Orchestra and was a member of the Spanish Honor Society. 

An interview with the 18-year-old’s father in The Journal News remembers Corey-Ochoa for her kindness and reaching out to students who were having difficulty, as well as volunteering to help people to learn English at Cabrini Immigrant Center. Her father described her as "sweet and gentle."

Click here to read the interview with Ochoa in The Journal News.  

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