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Driver pleads guilty to second-degree murder for I-17 crash that killed 3 college students

Vincent Ian Acosta recently pleaded guilty for his role in a crash on Interstate 17 that killed three college students.

PHOENIX — The driver accused of causing the 2022 crash that killed three Grand Canyon University students has pleaded guilty in court, public records show. 

Vincent Ian Acosta, 27, pleaded guilty on Aug. 14 to three counts of second-degree murder in connection to a deadly crash reported on Oct. 10, 2022 along Interstate 17 near Table Mesa Road in New River.

RELATED: A suspect is now in custody after 3 GCU students were killed in wrong-way crash

The three charges are classified as a Class 1 dangerous felony, which could result in a lengthy prison sentence.

At the time of Acosta's arrest, the driver's blood test results indicated he may have been impaired at the time of the crash, court records show.

Three freshman college students were killed in the wrong-way collision. GCU identified them as Abriauna Hoffman, 18, Elaine Hunter Balberdi, 19, and Magdalyn (Maggie) Ogden, 18.

Acosta is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 27.  

*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.*

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