‘Drowsy Driver’ Guilty in Death of Hudson Valley College Student

A Poughkeepsie, New York man has pleaded guilty in the death of a talented young musician.

On May 25, Lin Hong Nguyen received her master of Music in instrumental studies during a commencement ceremony at Bard College. Just hours later, she was dead.

According to The Violin Channel, Nguyen was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to Dutchess County, New York, to pursue a master's degree at Bard College. The young virtuoso had previously earned an undergraduate degree at the Vietnam National Academy of Music and planned to attend Stony Brook University in September to begin studies for her doctorate.

Drowsy Driver Incident Leads to Student's Death

Rohan Patrick was driving a 2017 Ford Fusion on the night of the accident and acknowledged that he was at risk of dozing off behind the wheel. Parisi says the defendant should have known he was going to fall asleep after struggling to stay awake and control his vehicle for half an hour before striking Nguyen.

On Wednesday, the 41-year-old Poughkeepsie man pleaded guilty to Criminally Negligent Homicide, claiming responsibility for Nguyen's death. Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi says Rohan did not intend to cause harm to the Bard graduate, but his negligence and "failure to exercise the most basic care" led to her death.

Rohan admitted that he was driving as fast as 60 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone while he was knowingly drowsy and having difficulty controlling his vehicle. A sentence is expected to be handed down on May 15, almost one year to the date of Nguyen's death.