An Arizona man has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison for killing three college students in a wrong-way crash in 2022 while he was intoxicated, authorities said.
Vincent Ian Acosta, 27, was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of second-degree murder, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced in a statement on Friday, Jan. 17.
Just before 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2022, Acosta was driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Interstate 17 near New River when he crashed into several cars, including a Honda Accord carrying three freshmen from Grand Canyon University, Mitchell said in the statement.
The victims were identified as Abriauna Hoffman, 18, and Magdalyn (Maggie) Ogden, 18, both of Clarkston, Wash., and Elaine Hunter Balberdi, 19, of Kula, Hawaii.
Balberdi and Ogden were pre-med students at Grand Canyon University. Hawaii News Now reports.
Hoffman was studying marketing and advertising, the university said in a 2022 email, the Idaho Statesman reports.
The three were roommates, according to the Idaho Statesman.
They were on their way to watch the sunrise at the Grand Canyon when they were killed, AZ Central reports.
Two victims died at the scene; the third victim was taken to a hospital and later died, Mitchell said in the statement.
During the hearing on Friday, Judge Sam Meyer said, “There is not a sentence that would do what I wish I could do for all of you, and that is, bring back your beautiful daughters,” ABC 15 reports.
The judge sentenced Acosta to 22 years in prison for each of the victims, which he will serve concurrently, with credit for 813 days he has already spent in jail, ABC 15 reports.
Acosta had a blood-alcohol level of .129 at the time of the crash, court documents show, Hawaii News Now and Arizona’s Family reported. The legal level in Arizona is 0.08.
He was found unconscious at the scene.
Acosta pleaded guilty in August 2024.
He was supposed to be sentenced in September, but the judge at that time, Judge Pamela Dunne. recused herself, 12 News reported.
22 years for each girl killed is not enough. The three sentences should have been served consecutively, and no parole, ever. If that were so, the chances of him dieing in prison would be greater than they currently are, and just what he deserves.
Time to dish out punishment that will stop this