A former Mesa student pleaded guilty on Aug. 23 to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated that resulted in the death of a Mesa freshman last November.

Eric Joseph Leeman, 21, admitted to a hit-and-run collision that killed then-Mesa freshman Whitney Young, 19. Young was struck by a car on Nov. 12, 2006, near the Montezuma Road and Rockford Drive intersection in the College Area and died at Scripps Mercy Hospital four days later.

Leeman faces 9 to 15 years in prison and will be sentenced on Sept. 25 at the San Diego Central Division Superior Court.

Police arrested Leeman on the day of Young’s death after matching a car part from the scene to Leeman’s BMW. Leeman originally pleaded not guilty to felony hit-and-run charges last Nov. 20.

Murder and gross vehicular manslaughter charges were later added after it was established that alcohol had been involved. If Leeman had been convicted at trial, he would have faced 15 years to life.

The murder and hit-and-run charges were dropped when he changed his plea to guilty.

At the preliminary hearing in March, witnesses testified that Leeman had been drinking heavily at a party near San Diego State University before he struck Young around 3:15 a.m., according to the 10news Web site. Witnesses at the scene reported hearing his car accelerate before it hit Young and then drove away. Leeman told police when questioned that he thought at the time that he might have hit a raccoon.

According to an earlier story in The Mesa Press, heavy drinking was not uncommon for Leeman. Leeman posted pictures of himself drinking alcohol on his myspace.com page and wrote, “Drinking and smoking is always great. I’m a laid back kind of guy who’s enjoyin’ the crazy college lifestyle. Most people know me as a die hard Bay Area sports fan or a drunken idiot at a party.” The myspace.com page has since been removed.

At the preliminary hearing, Deputy District Attorney Allison Worden revealed that Leeman had a prior DUI, and the judge raised Leeman’s bail from $225,000 to $300,000. After Leeman pleaded guilty last month, his bail was raised to $750,000, the 10news Web site reports.

When asked if there had been any new evidence that would have prompted Leeman to change his plea, Worden replied, “I do not know that there was any new evidence.” She explained that Leeman and his defense attorney, Roseline Feral, had most likely weighed the consequences of going to trial versus pleading guilty and decided on the latter.

“The sentencing range the defendant is facing is appropriate for his conduct,” Worden said. “The [Young] family is very happy about the outcome.”

The Young family offered a $9,000 reward for information during the time that the police were investigating the hit-and-run, according to signonsandiego.com. On the day Whitney Young died and Leeman was arrested, the family said in a statement, “We are heartbroken over the death of our precious daughter Whitney. Her death is a senseless tragedy that has taken the life of this beautiful young woman who had her whole life to live.” They thanked the police, the media and the Crime Stoppers program, and the staff of Scripps Mercy Hospital.

The family buried Young last Nov. 21 and donated her heart and other organs.

Young had planned to become a teacher. In a letter left at the memorial where she was struck, the Young family stated, “A very bright, warm, funny, loving, shining light has gone out in the world.”