A motorist arrested in the hit-and-run that killed a cyclist near the National Mall in September pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in D.C. Superior Court on Tuesday, reports the Washington Post.

Twenty-year-old Phillip Peoples, of Suitland, Md., was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on October 12, nearly three weeks after a driver ran a red light at the intersection of 12th and Constitution Ave NW and fatally struck Thomas Hendricks Hollowell at a “high rate of speed,” then drove away from the scene of the crime, according to the police report.

Hollowell, a 64-year-old Smithsonian employee who lived in Arlington, died of his injuries at a nearby hospital. In early October, hundreds of people gathered at the intersection where Hollowell was struck to commemorate his life.

Peoples was charged with second degree murder in the case, a crime that has a maximum sentence of life in prison. Involuntary manslaughter can result in a sentence up to 30 years in length. His sentencing is scheduled for January 25.

D.C. police found Peoples by picking up a license plate on D.C. Department of Transportation cameras, according to court documents. Peoples initially told police he didn’t drive his car on the day in question, September 24, per the affidavit. Police obtained a search warrant for his cell phone, which they say contained a text from Peoples on the day of the crash that said “I jus [sic] hit somebody bad my whole car fucked up.”