Man expected to plead guilty in connection with crash that killed Penn State student
A former Penn State student is expected to plead guilty Friday in connection with a crash that killed a woman as she jogged near the University Park campus.
Many terms of the agreement reached between Ahmed Alqubaisi, 20, and Centre County prosecutors were not made public during a hearing Thursday.
The agreement came three days after Centre County Deputy District Attorney Megan McGoron asked the county’s top judge to revoke Alqubaisi’s $3 million bail for violations of his bail conditions.
McGoron told Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine she will not seek forfeiture of the money, while defense lawyer Steve Trialonas said Alqubaisi has the right to contest the alleged bail violations if needed. His bail is among the highest in Centre County history.
Alqubaisi, of the United Arab Emirates, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since March 4. He’s detained at the Clinton County Correctional Facility.
Grine in January allowed Alqubaisi to travel to Harrisburg Area Community College to attend classes, but McGoron wrote he did not enroll and was not taking classes. He also was not living at the Ferguson Township address he provided and did not notify the proper agencies of a change in residence, McGoron wrote.
Alqubaisi, she wrote, also “made no effort” to stay in communication the probation department as required. He did not answer multiple phone calls and text messages from probation officers.
Some of the messages from the probation department sought clarity about two “strap tamper” alerts for his ankle monitor in February, the department wrote in a letter to Grine. He conceded the violations Thursday.
Alqubaisi was charged with vehicular homicide in the September death of Lovisa Arnesson-Cronhamre, a 25-year-old Penn State doctoral student who was studying architectural engineering. She had hopes of winning a Nobel Prize.
He was accused of speeding when he crossed the eastbound lane and slammed a 2024 BMW M3 into Arnesson-Cronhamre, of Sweden, as she jogged along the 200 block of East Park Avenue.
Her injuries, borough police wrote, included a brain bleed, broken neck, shattered right arm and broken foot. She was taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center before being flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Altoona, where she died.
Alqubaisi is an inexperienced driver, police wrote. He had a learner’s permit and did not have a licensed driver in the vehicle with him, as required.
Arnesson-Cronhamre’s family opposed setting bail in the case. Her mother told Grine in September her family was left to cope with “immense loss and sorrow.” An online petition signed by more than 17,000 people supported the family’s objections.
Maja Cronhamre described her daughter as determined, intelligent, humble, caring and loving. She described Alqubaisi as “a careless man utterly devoid of respect for other’s lives.”
Arnesson-Cronhamre is also survived by two sisters and one brother.