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Phoenix man sentenced to 22 years for causing wrong-way crash that killed 3 GCU freshmen

Wrong-way sign
Arizona Department of Transportation
Wrong-way sign installed by ADOT.

A Phoenix man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for causing a wrong-way collision that killed three Grand Canyon University students.

Vincent Ian Acosta pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in the October 2022 crash.

Acosta was driving southbound in the northbound lanes of the Interstate 17 near New River when he hit a Honda Accord with three GCU freshmen inside. His blood alcohol content was over the legal limit.

Abriauna Hoffman and Magdalyn (Maggie) Ogden, both 18 and from Clarkston, Washington; and Hunter Balberdi, 19, of Wailuku, Hawaii, were killed in the crash.

Memorial for GCU students killed by wrong-way driver
Grand Canyon University
A memorial on campus for Maggie Ogden, Abriauna Hoffman and Hunter Balberdi, three Grand Canyon University students killed on Oct. 10, 2022, in a collision with a wrong-way driver on I-17 north of Phoenix.
More law enforcement news

Senior field correspondent Bridget Dowd has a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.