Former Penn State receiver sentenced in fatal Bradford County ATV crash

Former Penn State wide receiver Julian Elija Crushshon-Fleming was sentenced Monday to 9 to 23 months in jail, followed by six months of probation, after pleading guilty in connection with a 2025 ATV crash that claimed the life of his girlfriend in Bradford County. Crushshon-Fleming, 25, of Elysburg, was sentenced in the Bradford County Court of Common Pleas after pleading guilty in April to involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence. The charges stem from a crash on May 24, 2025, on Painter Lick Drive in Columbia Township. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Crushshon-Fleming was operating an ATV with his girlfriend, Alyssa Boyd, 23, of Bloomsburg, as a passenger when the vehicle struck a deer that entered the roadway. Both riders were thrown from the ATV. Boyd died from multiple traumatic injuries, according to an autopsy. Investigators said neither Crushshon-Fleming nor Boyd was wearing a helmet. Police also determined Crushshon-Fleming's blood alcohol concentration was 0.118%, above Pennsylvania's legal limit. Crushshon-Fleming was originally charged with felony counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, and aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence, along with a misdemeanor DUI charge and several summary traffic offenses. As part of a negotiated plea agreement, those charges were reduced to involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence. Bradford County District Attorney Richard Wilson said the agreement reflected the challenges prosecutors would have faced in proving that alcohol, rather than the collision with the deer, directly caused Boyd's death. "This was an extremely unfortunate case," Wilson said. "While we were confident that we could prove Crushshon-Fleming committed a DUI offense, proving the connection between that and the death of the victim would be difficult." Wilson said prosecutors believed a jury could reasonably conclude the ATV crashed because it struck a deer, not because Crushshon-Fleming was impaired. "While Crushshon-Fleming's intoxication did not help matters, a jury would likely conclude that the collision with the deer caused the riders to crash, and therefore the victim's death, not the alcohol intoxication," Wilson said. "Manslaughter is therefore an appropriate resolution." Crushshon-Fleming was one of Pennsylvania's top high school football recruits before beginning his collegiate career at Ohio State University. He later transferred to Penn State, where he played during the 2024 season before entering the NFL Draft.