Kansas teenager was hit and killed in previous accident as he ran to help

JOHNSON COUNTY – A Kansas teenager died in a crash in Johnson County just before 2 a.m. Saturday.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Jeep Liberty, driven by 21-year-old Joselin M. Laynez Flores of Guatemala, traveling in the first lane on southbound Interstate 35 just north of Johnson Drive in Merriam.

The Jeep struck a 2007 Chevy Equinox driven by 25-year-old Paula S. Baird of Kansas City, Kansas, who was stranded after an earlier accident.

After the impact, the Jeep veered off course and struck a pedestrian, Benjamin D. Van Buskirk, 17, Olathe, who ran across the roadway to render aid. Van Buskirk was a passenger in a 2008 Honda CRV driven by Ammar M. Aljishi, 17, Spring Hill, that was stopped in the right shoulder of the highway.

Van Buskirk was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the coroner’s office. EMS took Baird to KU Medical Center. Laynez Flores and a passenger in the Jeep were uninjured and properly restrained, according to KHP.