Paxico: Crash kills soldier, infant

An off-duty Fort Riley soldier and her infant son were killed when the soldier lost control of her car on a curve along Interstate 70 in northeast Kansas.

The Kansas State Highway Patrol identified the victims as Pvt. Dionya M. Wesbrooks, 19, originally from Evanston, Ill., and 11-month-old Stephon D. Zachery Jr.

The accident happened Monday morning near Paxico in Wabaunsee County on a stretch of the interstate that was reduced to one lane of traffic because of construction. The car missed a curve, rolled and hit a tree. A passenger in the car Wesbrooks was driving was transported to a Topeka hospital with serious injuries.

Wesbrooks, an automated logistic specialist who worked with supplies, joined the Army in August 2002. She had been stationed at Fort Riley for about a month, said Christie Vanover, a spokeswoman for the base.

Wichita: Family sues over patient’s brain damage

A lawsuit alleges that a Clearwater woman suffered brain damage because Wesley Medical Center failed to properly staff an intensive care unit.

The suit, filed last week in Sedgwick County District Court, also accuses the hospital of deceptive advertising in the areas of patient care and staffing.

Brenda Layton, a 39-year-old mother of two, has been at Wesley in a coma since November, said the family’s lawyer, Arden Bradshaw.

Wesley spokeswoman Helen Thomas said Monday that neither the hospital nor its lawyers had been served with the lawsuit.

Doctors diagnosed Layton with bacterial pneumonia upon her arrival at Wesley on Nov. 27. She was placed on a respirator because she had difficulty breathing.

The next day, one of the tubes on Layton’s breathing machine became disconnected. An alarm sounded, but the lawsuit alleges that Wesley nursing staff failed to respond promptly.

“She was disconnected for a sufficient time to apparently cause her permanent brain damage,” Bradshaw said.