Man, 19, Charged with Murder After Hit-and-Run Leaves 2 University of Arizona Students Dead By Kimberlee Speakman

Two college students in Arizona are dead and another person is in critical condition after they were allegedly hit by a car while walking on a crosswalk at night.

The Tucson Police Department (TPD) said in a news release that officers responded to reports of multiple pedestrians hit by a vehicle on North Euclid Avenue and East Second Street at around 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found two people — identified as Sophia Akimi Troetel, 21, and Josiah Patrick Santos, 22 — dead.

According to KOLD-TV, they were University of Arizona students. A third person, who was not identified, was transported to the hospital in critical condition with “life-threatening injuries.”

“The suspect vehicle that struck the pedestrians fled the scene prior to any first responder arrival,” police said in their statement.

Through their investigation, detectives found that a 2019 Porsche Boxter was traveling northbound on Euclid Avenue above the posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour.

The three pedestrians had been crossing the street at a marked intersection at the same time. “The Porsche did not stop, struck the pedestrians, and fled the scene,” police said.

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The driver of the Porsche – identified as 19-year-old Louis John Artal — eventually turned himself into police in the “early hours” of Oct. 31, according to the TPD. He was evaluated by an officer with the Impaired Driving Enforcement Unit, and police claim he was “impaired by alcohol and or drugs at the time of the collision.” 

Artal was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault with serious physical injury and one count of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, according to police. He was booked into the Pima County Jail.

“Mr. Artal’s impairment, speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk are the major contributing factors of this collision,” alleged the TPD.

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Artal made his first court appearance on Oct. 31, according to local news station KOLD-TV. His attorney said Artal was a student at the University of Arizona. The state also claimed in the hearing that Artal was originally from California. 

Police said their investigation into the crash is still “ongoing” and “any additional information may be released at a later date as it becomes available.”