FRANKLIN COUNTY, KS — A pedestrian died Tuesday evening after being struck on U.S. 59 near the Douglas and Franklin county line, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The crash happened just before 6:30 p.m. south of 1st Road. Troopers said the man had been involved in a separate crash at the same location before he was hit by an SUV.
Authorities identified the pedestrian as 26-year-old Ahmad Shameek Welsch. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
SUV driver was headed north on U.S. 59
The Kansas Highway Patrol said the vehicle involved was a 2020 Toyota RAV4 driven by 46-year-old Troy Evan Prosser of Lawrence. The SUV was traveling north on U.S. 59 when it struck Welsch.
Prosser was properly restrained and was not injured, according to the patrol. No other injuries were reported in the crash.
The highway patrol has not said whether any charges were filed or given more details about how the earlier crash unfolded.
Crash happened near the Douglas and Franklin county line
The scene was near the point where Douglas County meets Franklin County, adding another layer of traffic risk to a stretch of highway that carries both local and through traffic.
U.S. 59 runs through a mix of rural areas and county road intersections, including 1st Road, where the fatal collision was reported. In this case, the location became the center of two incidents rather than one.
Investigators have said only that Welsch was involved in a separate crash before being struck. They have not publicly detailed what caused that first collision.
Kansas Highway Patrol led the response
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported the fatality and identified the people involved. Its account provides the basic timeline: a crash before 6:30 p.m., a pedestrian on the roadway, and a northbound SUV that hit him.
Officials also confirmed that the driver remained unharmed and that seat belt use was not an issue for Prosser. Those are the main facts released so far about the people in the vehicle.
No additional emergency response details were included in the patrol’s account, and the agency has not released further information about the condition of the road or visibility at the time.
Victim identified after fatal highway collision
Welsch’s death turned what appears to have begun as one crash scene into a fatal highway incident. The patrol’s description shows that the pedestrian was present on or near the roadway when the SUV passed through the area.
Because investigators have linked the death to a separate earlier crash, the sequence of events is especially important. Officials have not said whether the first crash involved another vehicle, a roadway obstruction, or some other circumstance.
The Kansas Highway Patrol has not announced any longer-term findings, and no further details were available Tuesday night about what led up to the collision.
What remains unanswered about the fatal incident
Several basic questions remain open. Troopers have not said what caused the earlier crash, whether any lanes were blocked, or how long Welsch had been on the scene before he was hit.
The patrol also did not release information about weather, lighting, or traffic control at the location south of 1st Road. Those details may help explain how the separate incidents came together.
For now, the official record is limited to the identity of the man who died, the driver of the SUV, and the location and time of the fatal strike.