Friends walking with Ryan Kanost weren’t sure what happened to him after he was struck by a speeding car during the early hours of Sept. 23, 2006.

They didn’t see the 22-year-old Kansas University student’s body at first, which had been knocked 140 feet into a water main pipe. The car that hit him didn’t stop.

Witnesses to the incident testified Thursday in Douglas County District Court as the trial of Joshua Walton continued in its fourth day. Walton, 25, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in Kanost’s death.

One witnesses, Kale McLin, said he was walking ahead of Kanost as they crossed Kentucky Street at 13th Street when he heard a noise.

“I turned around and said, ‘What was that? Oh my God, where’s Ryan?'” he said.

McLin and others said they saw a car that was initially more than a block away traveling northbound. They said they thought they had time to get across the street.

Prosecutors say Walton had been drinking heavily before the accident.

But under questioning by prosecutors and Walton’s attorney, Tom Bath, the KU students with Kanost said they, too, had been drinking at a party before the accident.

The trial continues today.