IOWA CITY, Iowa — A judge is scheduled to sentence Ali Younes on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, following his conviction in a high-profile attempted murder, robbery and theft case dating to a 2022 attack on the University of Iowa campus.
Younes, a former University of Iowa student, was found guilty by Judge Kevin McKeever in December of attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft in connection with the April 2022 attack in which prosecutors say he strangled a woman until she lost consciousness and stole her valuable earrings near Art Building West.
The bench trial, without a jury, lasted only minutes before the judge made his findings. Prosecutors argued that evidence, including testimony from the victim and other witnesses, supported a finding that Younes intended to commit murder during the robbery. Defense arguments focused on whether prosecutors had proven Younes’s intent…