A Tuesday morning two-vehicle fatality accident on I-70 Tuesday near Grandview Plaza led to the death of 26 year old Jessica Michelle Thompson, and 5 year old Leah Michelle Thompson.
Another passenger in their vehicle, Jaydon Allan Thompson, 6, was transported to Wesley Medical Center where he is still listed as in critical condition as of 3:00 pm Wednesday afternoon.
According to Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf, Steven Johnson, 42, Houston, Texas, has been arrested on two counts of suspicion of Involuntary Manslaughter while Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs, plus one count each of Driving Under Influence of Alcohol or Drugs, and Improper Driving on Laned Roadway. He is expected to have a first appearance in Geary County District Court Wednesday.
North Central Kansas Highway Patrol State Trooper Ben Gardner said that from the time he arrived on scene Tuesday morning [it] has been on his mind.
“It’s difficult for everyone involved, those family members that are now dealing with a death that was unexpected, it’s difficult for the community knowing that a small child or potentially children are not in that school any longer and to think about the experiences they had with that child, it’s difficult for the emergency responders that are there assisting in the investigation trying to find clarity in what took place so that if charges are pending that we have accountability to those that created the situation that is not wanted or desirable by anyone; so what do we do – I’ll tell you what we do is we talk to each other, we talk to our families, we try to find comfort in our efforts to try to get the answers for those that most desirably want answers – which is the direct family,” said Gardner.
Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf echoed similar sentiments.
“This was one of those that will stick with you for the rest of your days, and it is tough on the folks that were out there, it’s tough on all of us; and we’re going to do a debrief on Friday and bring in all the first responders from KHP, to our guys (Sheriff’s Dept) to Fire and EMS – and we’re going to bring everybody in and talk to everybody about their thoughts , their feelings and just try to help everybody cope with what they had to witness out there,” said Wolf.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that the International truck driven by Johnson was eastbound on the interstate, entered the median, and onto westbound lanes where it struck a Ford 500 driven by Jessica Michelle Thompson. Both vehicles came to rest in the north ditch.