Police finish investigation of KU student's hit-and-run death

LJWorld.com weblogs The Lawrence Crime Blotter

Posted by Eric Weslander November 1, 2006 at 12:07 p.m.

Lawrence Police said today they'd finished the investigation into a Sept. 23 hit-and-run wreck that killed a Kansas University student who was crossing a busy campus-area street. It will now be up to Dist. Atty. Charles Branson's office to decide whether to file charges in the death of Ryan Matthew Kanost.Friends and witnesses say that around 1 a.m. that night, Kanost, 22, was walking with three other friends from Gertrude Sellards Pearson Hall, 500 W. 11th St., to a friend's house near 14th and Kentucky streets. They looked to the right before crossing Kentucky Street, a one-way, and saw a car that seemed to be in the distance; the car changed lanes once but appeared to be speeding, said Brandon Seitzer, Kanost's roommate, who was with him when he was struck by the car.Another witness described seeing a car approach "very quickly" and strike Kanost with the front right side of the vehicle.A preliminary police report, released shortly after the wreck, identified the driver of the Toyota Camry as Joshua I. Walton, 24, of Lawrence. That report lists two factors that the officer believed contributed to the wreck: Walton's failure to yield to the pedestrian and "reckless/careless driving."Walton initially left the scene but turned himself in later in the day. He was interviewed but not arrested or cited.A preliminary report released in late September did not contain any indication that alcohol or drugs were a factor, but police were awaiting lab test results at that time.Friends and family described Kanost, a Kansas University senior, as extremely intelligent and headed for medical school.-contributed by [Eric Weslander.][1] [1]: http://www2.ljworld.com/staff/eric_weslander