Judge sets trial date for driver involved in April fatality accident

The trucker charged with killing a Baker University freshman April 13 in a wreck near Baldwin tested positive for cocaine after the crash, police testified Friday at a preliminary hearing.

Jim George, the attorney for Yan R. McHenry, 47, Dallas, argued that the urine test taken by Kansas Highway Patrol troopers didn’t show the amount of cocaine in McHenry’s system or the level of impairment.

Still, at the end of the hearing, District Court Judge Robert Fairchild found there was probable cause to try McHenry on felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated battery. McHenry pleaded not guilty, and Fairchild scheduled a trial for Aug. 25.

McHenry is charged with causing a rear-end wreck on U.S. Highway 56 east of Baldwin that killed 19-year-old Shawn Trager and injured three others.

McHenry remains in the Douglas County Jail.