A 34-year-old Wichita man had a first appearance in court Friday in connection to a May 2021 crash in southwest Wichita that killed one person and sent two others to the hospital.
Michael Wayne Walker was charged in January on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of driving with a suspended or canceled license, court records show. He was arrested at the scene of the two-vehicle, daytime crash after a field sobriety test.
The wreck happened around 2:25 p.m. on May 29, 2021, near Pawnee and Glenn and led to the death of 74-year-old Rita Hawkins of Wichita.
Police said Walker was driving a 2005 Kia Sorrento eastbound on Pawnee, when he crossed the center line and entered the westbound lanes. Walker’s vehicle then collided with a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer that Hawkins was riding in, causing the Sorrento to roll onto its top, police said.
The three people in the Lancer had to be freed from the wreckage by firefighters and then were taken to the hospital, police said. The 66-year-old woman who was driving the Lancer was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and her two passengers, Hawkins and a 77-year-old man, were taken with critical injuries. Hawkins died at the hospital.
Police said Walker and a 29-year-old passenger in his car had minor injuries and were treated at the scene.