Former University of Iowa Student Ali Younes, 22, was found guilty of three felonies on Friday after he robbed and strangled an Iowa City woman outside of the UI’s Art Building West in April 2022.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever found Younes guilty of attempted murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree theft following a non-jury trial on July 8 and 9.
Younes fled the U.S. to Jordan in 2022 following his arrest and release on bail. Younes pled guilty to escaping from custody and is awaiting sentencing on that charge.
Younes faces up to 60 years in prison for his attack on the Iowa City woman, and up to 5 years for his escape conviction. His sentencing is set for February 27, 2026.
Younes strangled her until she was purple
Anne Rizzo, 63, testified during the two-day trial that she was walking home from her family business, Hands Jewelers, on S. Dubuque St. in Iowa City on April 25, 2022, when she was assaulted by a man in a red and blue jacket that she later identified as Younes.
Rizzo testified to feeling like she was being followed that night, and started walking faster as she crossed behind Art Building West due to the unseasonably cold weather. She said she looked back and saw a man, whom she has since identified as Younes, catching up to her “way too fast”, and she was tackled from behind, knocking her to the ground.
Rizzo testified that Younes straddled her and strangled her as she mouthed, “Please don’t hurt me. I will give you anything you want.”
Rizzo testified that she went unconscious and felt that she was “going to die” when she closed her eyes as she passed out from the strangulation. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the lap of a woman she did not know.
Rizzo later realized that she no longer had her diamond earrings, gifted to her by her husband, when she was in the emergency room.
Photos of Rizzo at the hospital after the attack show Rizzo with a bruised eye, red marks around her throat, and wounds on her face from the attack.
Witnesses and then-UI students Katherine Kavars and Madilynn Amos testified that they saw Younes standing over Rizzo as they exited Art Building West on April 25, 2022. Younes said Rizzo had passed out and that he was going to call 911. Kavars and Amos testified that instead, he ran up the hill to the visual arts building, and they figured he was not calling 911 and called themselves.
Kavars testified that there was a pool of something wet, which paramedics later testified was urine, around Rizzo, likely from Rizzo losing consciousness as she was strangled. Katy Rassmussen, a sexual assault nurse examiner, testified that losing control of her bladder, hoarseness, and confusion correlated with the strangulation being possibly fatal.
Amos said when they discovered Rizzo, she was breathing but unconscious, and that Kavars called 911, reporting it as a possible seizure. However, Rizzo began to wake up and wasn’t making sense, Amos testified, saying her voice was difficult to understand because it was so hoarse. When paramedics arrived, Amos said Rizzo told them a man, now known to be Younes, had strangled her.
Younes found in possession of stolen earrings
The UI Police Department put out a Hawk Alert that evening, giving the description provided by Rizzo, Amos, and Kavars. The department later included surveillance footage from the Iowa Memorial Union, or IMU, footbridge, and asked for the public’s assistance in identifying the assailant.
UIPD received several calls identifying the assailant as Younes from people who knew him. Police gathered footage showing Younes leaving his dorm in Burge Residence Hall at 9:56 p.m., with surveillance footage following him to where he walked across the Hancher Auditorium footbridge and down Riverside Dr. He then appeared to be crossing the IMU footbridge and then turned around to follow Rizzo when she passed him.
Younes was seen jogging behind Rizzo as he exited the surveillance video and reappeared, leaving the scene of the assault, heading towards Burge Residence Hall.
Younes flees to Jordan
Younes was initially arrested in 2022. Younes’ bail was lowered from $350,000 to $125,000, and he was ordered to wear a GPS ankle monitor and placed on house arrest at his parents’ home in Sutherland, Iowa.
UIPD detective Ian Mallory testified that in May 2023, Jordan cut off his GPS monitor and fled to Jordan, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S. He used his Jordanian passport to take a flight from Chicago to his home country.
Mallory kept in contact with Younes and eventually convinced him to return to the U.S. and self-surrender in Chicago. He was then extradited to Iowa to stand trial.
When he returned, Mallory interviewed Younes, where Younes admitted to strangling Rizzo and stealing her earrings, but denied intent to kill Rizzo.
One of the key arguments made by the defense was that Younes did not intend to kill Rizzo, meaning he cannot be found guilty of attempted murder.
However, McKeever found that Younes’s actions indicated that he had the intent to commit attempted murder.
This story was updated for clarity on Dec. 7