Deadly head-on Wichita crash on I-235 near Central happened when driver crossed median

A Wichita woman has died after a west-side wreck on the interstate highway Saturday morning.

Emergency crews were called at around 9:45 a.m. to an injury accident on I-235 just south of Central, state troopers wrote in a Kansas Highway Patrol crash log. Two vehicles were involved, and the two drivers were taken to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis.

One driver died at the hospital. She was identified in the KHP report as Debra Diane Reynolds, age 59. The other driver, a 20-year-old Wichita woman, was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Investigators determined the 20-year-old was driving a 2005 Ford Escape in the left lane of southbound I-235. The SUV then crossed through the median and collided with a 2019 Toyota Corolla driven by Reynolds.