Lawmaker's son charged with manslaughter in Egyptian graduate student

A state lawmaker's son has been charged with manslaughter in the death of an elderly Egyptian graduate student at Murray State University who was died after being hit by a vehicle, authorities said.

Police arrested Harrison Yonts, 20, on Friday and charged him with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 63-year-old Nadia Shaheen. Her body was found in a ditch Friday morning, and evidence from the crime scene led back to Yonts' vehicle, Murray police said.

Shaheen was struck and killed by a car on a roadside early Friday morning, Calloway County Coroner Mike Garland said, adding that she died of blunt for trauma to the head about four to six hours after being hit by the vehicle.

Shaheen, a native of Egypt, was set to graduate in December from the school's Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program, according to the university's newspaper, The Murray State News.

Yonts, the son of Democratic state Rep. Brent Yonts, is a sophomore at Murray State and a member of the Lambda Chi fraternity. He was being held in county jail on a $500,000 (Ђ427,460) bond. His father could not be immediately reached for comment.

Mark Galloway, an international student adviser at the university, said Shaheen was well-liked among the students, AP reports.

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