Ruschell Boone (néeWest; 1975 – 3 September 2023) was a Jamaican-born American reporter and journalist based in New York City. She worked for NY1 cable television news from 2002 until her death in 2023.[1]
Early life and education
Ruschell West was born in Kingston, Jamaica. She immigrated to the Bronx in 1986 when she was 11,[2] where she recalled being bullied for her Jamaican accent.[3] She was one of five children in a blended family with her mother Faithlyn (Swaby) and stepfather Duke Scott.[4]
Boone earned a degree in accounting from City University of New York (CUNY)Baruch College.[5] Although she picked accounting to ensure a good living, she discovered her passion for journalism in her senior year when she took over a college radio segment for a missing guest. Boone's academic counselor tried to dissuade her from a career change, saying that it was too late for her to change paths and that she did not "fit the mold".[3] After her death, CUNY established a scholarship named in her honor.[6]
Career
Working in cable television news since 1998, Boone was a business news associate for CNBC and then an associate producer and assignment editor for CNN.[2][5] She joined NY1 in 2002.[5]
As a reporter for NY1, she covered breaking stories such as the 2016 pressure-cooker bombing in Manhattan and the 2016 presidential election.[5] She became a general assignment reporter for NY1's Live at Ten newscast in 2018.[7] In 2019, Boone was nominated for three New York Emmy Awards for news reporting and work on NY1's talk shows,[8] and in 2020 she was nominated again as a live reporter.[9] She won in 2021 for her series New York: Unfiltered.[10] She moved to the anchor desk in 2021,[11] where her work was nominated for another Emmy posthumously in 2024.[12]
Personal life and death
On 24 September 2005, Ruschell West married Todd Boone, a production technician at NY1. They went on to have two sons.[13][14] In 2022, she began a medical leave from NY1 for treatment of pancreatic cancer.[15] She later returned to the NY1 anchor desk, but succumbed to medical complications on 3 September 2023, at the age of 48.[1] Speakers at her memorial service included New York elected officials Letitia James, Eric Adams, Adrienne Adams, and Donovan Richards.[11]
