MERRIAM — A 60-year-old former police officer was killed early Wednesday when her car was struck by another car going the wrong way on Interstate 35 in Merriam.
Evelyn Powers, 60, of North Kansas City, Mo., was killed in the wreck. The driver of the other car, Gregory Howe, 24, of Kansas City, Kan., also was killed.
Investigators said they smelled alcohol when they tried to pull Howe from the wreck, but the Kansas Highway Patrol was waiting for tests and had not determined whether liquor was a factor in the crash.
For Ty Lewis, the news that alcohol may have been a factor in the head-on collision that killed his mother was almost unbearable.
"It's like getting hit in the stomach. It took my breath away," Lewis told KMBC-TV in Kansas City.
One of Evelyn Powers' sons, Casey, was injured in a crash in 1990, when he was hit by a drunk driver. As a former police officer, Evelyn Powers also had arrested drunk drivers.
Kansas records show Howe's license was suspended twice for alcohol-related stops.
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