WABAUNSEE COUNTY – The Kansas Highway Patrol responded to a fatal vehicle accident in Wabaunsee County at 7:35 p.m. Sunday two miles east of Paxico.
According to reports, a 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Virgil Koppenheffer, 36, of Moulton, Ala., had ran out of fuel and was stopped partially in the left lane of I-70 eastbound with one occupant outside attempting to push the vehicle out of the roadway. A 2013 Toyota Prius driven by Madison Connally, 23, of Ellsworth, was eastbound on I-70 and struck the Cavalier from behind.
Tammy Patterson, 41, of Junction City, was a passenger in the Cavalier and was killed in the accident. The other occupants of the vehicle were Keturah Anderson, 32, of Moulton, Ala., and Michael Smothers, 40, of Junction City. Anderson, Smothers and Connally were taken to Stormont Vail HealthCare in Topeka for their injuries.
Smothers was outside the Cavalier attempting to push it out of the roadway.
No one in the Cavalier was wearing their seat belt. Connally was wearing her seat belt.