Hunter
10/23/25
The former UI student who allegedly tried to strangle a woman to death and took a pair of expensive earrings will learn his fate in December.
The Press-Citizen reports 22-year-old Ali Younes was charged with attempted murder, first-degree theft and first-degree robbery. Prosecutors argued that Younes intended to kill Anne Rizzo, a woman he allegedly knocked to the ground and strangled unconscious on the night of April 25, 2022.
Younes waived his right to a jury trial and was prosecuted in front of a judge for the Iowa District Court for Johnson County in early July. The judge then allowed closing arguments to be submitted in writing over the course of the next seven weeks.
Judge Kevin McKeever is expected to issue a ruling on all three charges at a disposition hearing the afternoon of December 5th.
Younes will be in court next month on a charge of escape from custody after he allegedly fled the country with help from his parents before his original trial was set to begin. Younes remained in his home country of Jordan until he surrendered to the US Embassy there and was extradited to America and booked at the Johnson County Jail in September 2024.
A ruling on that charge is scheduled for November 7th.