Man Admits To Fatally Striking Bergen County Valedictorian While High: Report

The man accused of fatally striking a former Paramus High School valedictorian in 2012 has admitted he was under the influence of painkillers pleaded guilty to vehicular homocide, The Record reported.

Philip Cise, 51, pleaded guilty to vehicular homocide while under the influence when he hit 20-year-old Gabrielle Reuveni as she was jogging near her parents’ vacation home in the Poconos in July 2012, the newspaper reported.

Witnesses say Cise was driving the truck and, for no apparent reason, swerved for no apparent reason., NorthJersey.com reported.

Cise has a long history of mental illness and criminal offenses, NJ.com reported; authorities said he told them he had taken painkillers obtained from a friend.

Cise will be sentenced to three to six years in prison, and, as part of the deal, after he’s released, to four years of supervised probation, NJ.com reported.

Reuveni was valedictorian of the Paramus High School Class of 2010. She was a rising junior at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in international affairs with a minor in Spanish.