Woman accused of misusing donations meant for child who died of cancer

A 37-year-old woman from Byram, which is a neighborhood in Greenwich, is facing a larceny charge for improper use of gift cards.

When a 9-year-old Greenwich youngster died of cancer this summer, Stephanie Fox started a movement to get gift cards for the child’s family, using a social-media platform, Pay it Forward, according to authorities. Fox’s fundraiser raised $1,780 in gift-card donations for the family. 

However, authorities say that none of the gift cards made their way to the family of the child and that Fox had been arrested on a charge of fourth-degree larceny.

“After a thorough investigation, it was clear that Fox took the gift cards intended for the grieving family without consulting with them, and gave them to whomever she saw fit,” a police statement said.

The arrest report narrative also states Fox was “deceptive” in her dealings with police and the family.

Mark Sherman, who is Fox’s defense attorney, said on Wednesday that his client “deeply regrets the mishandling” of the gift cards.

“As she informed Greenwich police, she has been working diligently to reimburse the affected families and has separated from the Pay It Forward online community,” he said.

Greenwich detectives contacted people who had donated to the Pay it Forward website earmarked for the late youngster’s family.

“They all said the donations was intended for the family and did not approve for the gift cards to be donated to anyone else,” the affidavit stated. Police said that Fox had been “changing the recipient email address (on the donation website) to one controlled by her.” 

After police contacted Fox, she denied using any of the gift-cards herself but said she had handed them over to people in need including “single mothers escaping domestic violence” and a “Ukrainian family.”

Police confirmed that the family of the deceased child had not asked for any donations but became concerned after gift-cards addressed to them were found on public websites.

Fox was arrested on Monday after she turned herself in at a police station in Greenwich.