Driver going the wrong way sentenced for causing deaths of 3 students

Wrong-way driver who killed three teens is sentenced

Background: News footage of the fatal 2022 car crash (KSAZ). Insets (left, from top to bottom): Abriauna Hoffman (GoFundMe), Hunter Balberdi (GoFundMe), Magdelyn “Maggie” Ogden (GoFundMe). Inset (right): Vincent Acosta (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office).

An individual from Arizona who drove in the wrong direction on a major highway and caused a collision with a vehicle transporting three teenagers has been sent to prison following a plea of guilty to second-degree murder.

During the early hours of Oct. 10, 2022, Vincent Acosta, aged 27, was driving south in the northbound lane of Interstate 17 when he crashed into several vehicles, one of which was carrying Abriauna Hoffman, 18, Magdalyn “Maggie” Ogden, 18, and Hunter Balberdi, 19. These three freshmen students from Grand Canyon University shared a suite on campus and were en route to the Grand Canyon to witness the sunrise. Ogden had recently celebrated her birthday.

After the crash, which occurred just before 4 a.m., Acosta was found unconscious while first responders looked for victims in four separate cars. His blood alcohol level was reportedly 0.129, well over Arizona’s legal limit of 0.08. Three other victims involved in the crash did not have life-threatening injuries.

In a statement announcing the sentencing on Jan. 17, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said that two of the teens were pronounced dead at the scene and the third died at the hospital.

Acosta pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in August 2024 and was sentenced to 22 years in prison for each victim, which will be served concurrently. He also received credit for 813 days already served.

KNXV, a local ABC affiliate, reported that sentencing was intended to take place in September, about a month after the plea agreement was entered. The judge assigned to the case, Judge Pamela Dunne, recused herself, reportedly because she disagreed with the terms of the plea, specifically the concurrent 22-year sentences. Acosta appeared before Judge Sam Myers instead, who reportedly told the families of the girls in the courtroom, “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.”