Driver to plead guilty to charge

The man accused of fleeing the scene of a car crash involving three IU students and killing one of them, 21-year-old Ashley Crouse, will plead guilty to a class C felony charge. \nMeliton Praxidis signed a plea agreement Tuesday, which could result in a sentence of two to eight years in prison. His sentencing hearing will convene Dec. 14. \nBecause Praxidis does not speak English, a court-appointed interpreter assisted him in court. \n"Today is the day we have to tell the judge whether we go to trial or plead guilty," said Public Defender David Collins to an interpreter for his client. "What do you want to do?"\n"Declare myself guilty," Praxidis' interpreter said. \nThe state of Indiana agreed not to make any recommendations on the sentence -- either by increasing or alleviating the charge -- although the family of Crouse might testify in court, according to the plea and sentencing agreement. \nMary Beth Crouse, Ashley's mother, declined to comment on the case and whether the family intended to testify at the sentencing. \nMonroe County Public Defense Attorney David Collins and Monroe County Deputy Prosecutor Jeffrey Kehr also declined to comment on the case.\nPraxidis made his first appearance before a judge in May after an incarceration transfer from New Castle County, Del., where he fled April 12 -- one day after the fatal accident. \nU.S. marshals arrested Praxidis in Delaware three days after the accident. Officials had struggled to identify the suspect because he did not possess a valid driver's license or form of identification, police said.\nAfter the IU Police Department obtained an eyewitness sketch of the suspect, New Castle police were able to match a photograph with the IUPD composite image. \nAccording to police reports, Crouse, student Christopher Carlson and student Julie Greenbaum entered the intersection of Hawthorne Drive and Third Street the night of April 11 when a gray Honda station wagon, allegedly driven by Praxidis, struck their red Jeep. The vehicles both skidded into the Kappa Kappa Gamma house lawn, the sorority where Crouse had lived and was a member. \nAt the intersection, the students' Jeep received a flashing red traffic light while the station wagon had a flashing yellow light, according to the reports. \nPraxidis allegedly fled on foot before police arrived at the scene. \nPolice reports state that Crouse, who was in the back seat of the Jeep, landed five feet from the vehicle after the impact. She was the only passenger not wearing a seat belt, according to the report. \nBloomington Hospital medics pronounced Crouse dead at 12:09 a.m. April 12.