Port Chester HS Sweethearts: Man on Probation Charged With Beating Ex to Death in Elmsford Motel

ELMSFORD, NY (November 5, 2025) — A 32-year-old man on probation for a weapons conviction faces second-degree murder charges after allegedly beating his ex-girlfriend — a Port Chester High School sweetheart and Monroe College graduate — to death over several hours in a Days Inn motel room while their 2-year-old son was present, then fleeing with the child, authorities said.

Justin Bartley, 32, was arraigned Monday or Tuesday in Elmsford Village Court and ordered held without bail at the Westchester County Department of Corrections, according to police and court records.

The victim, Roseberline Philippe, also 32 and also known as Rose Philippe, lived with her parents and the couple’s son in White Plains. She worked as an office assistant in the oncology department at White Plains Hospital and had recently completed training for a position in the Amazon department at a Whole Foods in Connecticut. Philippe and Bartley attended Port Chester High School together and reconnected years later on social media, her sister Yvena Philippe told The Journal News/lohud.

Cleaning staff discovered Philippe’s battered body in Room 230 at the Days Inn on Valley Avenue around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2. She was pronounced dead 10 minutes earlier, police said.

A criminal complaint states Bartley struck Philippe multiple times between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. that day.

Surveillance video showed Bartley driving away from the motel with the 2-year-old shortly after the alleged attack, authorities said.

The day before, on Saturday, Nov. 1, Bartley arrived uninvited at the White Plains home where Philippe lived with her parents. A confrontation ensued; Philippe’s father told him to leave. Bartley demanded that Philippe and the child go with him, and they did.

Using surveillance footage and working with the FBI Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and Westchester County police Real-Time Crime Center, authorities located Bartley’s vehicle in the Bronx around 6:15 p.m. Sunday. Bartley and the child were taken into custody without incident and returned to Elmsford Police Headquarters.

Bartley has pending DWI and weapons possession charges from a May arrest in White Plains and was on probation for a prior weapons conviction in Rockland County.

This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards