A former Eagan man pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree murder for running down an Eagan couple out for their evening walk last year.

Jonna Kojo Armartey, 37, was accused in the deaths of Diane and Roger Peterson. The Eagan wife and husband were struck while walking through a parking lot at 2020 Silver Bell Road on June 28, 2018.

Armartey will be sentenced at 1 p.m. on Oct. 11 in Dakota County District Court.

“We are pleased that Jonna Armartey has accepted responsibility for this senseless and violent crime that tragically killed two individuals in our community,” Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said in a statement.

According to investigators, Armartey was driving his silver van through Eagan around 10 p.m. when he spotted the Petersons on a walk and followed them to the parking lot. In an interview, he told them they “freaked him out” so he drove “fast and hit them hard.”

After striking the couple, the van sped away.

Eagan police found the 58-year-old Diane Peterson and 74-year-old Roger Peterson struggling to breathe due to their injuries. They were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul where they were pronounced dead.

Police found Armartey’s van in a parking lot of a restaurant less than a mile away with Diane Peterson’s phone wedged under the windshield wiper, according to the court records. There was also damage to the front end of the vehicle and a crack in the windshield on the passenger side

Armartey and the Petersons did not know each other, according to court records.

Armartey had a history of criminal activity. He was on probation at the time for three felony convictions, including vehicle theft, third-degree assault of a correctional officer and fourth-degree assault of a psychiatrist.

He was also civilly committed for more than a year and a half based upon a psychologist’s conclusion he was not mentally competent to proceed in connection with the case involving the psychiatrist.