Updated: 2:22 p.m.
The driver of a Camaro who fled the scene of a single-vehicle accident in Winfield that killed his Ark City passenger in February has been identified.
According to the full accident report filed by the Kansas Highway Patrol, the driver was identified as 41-year-old Joshua Young of Winfield.
Young is no stranger to authorities and has an extensive criminal history. He is currently facing felony charges in the Sedgwick County Jail.
He was arrested Monday as a “fugitive of justice” following two different arrests at the end of February for contempt of court and failure to appear, respectively.
His bond is listed at $1.2 million.
According to Sedgwick County District court records, Young was charged last summer with aggravated battery/knowingly using a weapon to cause great bodily harm, disfigurement and/or death.
On Feb. 18 an Ark City man, 27-year-old Nicolas Morris, was killed in a single-vehicle accident before midnight in Winfield when the 1995 Chevy Camaro he was a passenger in and driven by Young was eastbound on 33rd Avenue at Meadowlark Lane when it crossed the centerline and left the roadway to the left. The car then rolled and struck a utility pole.
The KHP report, filed March 8, says the Camaro came to a rest on its side against the utility pole.
The car’s owner is Lydia Richardson of Winfield. Trooper Rusty Parks, the lead investigator listed on the KHP report, told Cowley Post Wednesday afternoon she and Young were in a relationship.
Both Young and Richardson were booked in the Kay County Dentition Center in Newkirk during the last week of January, according to a list of jail bookings posted Jan. 31 by Kay NewsCow.
Young was booked for felon in possession of a firearm and Richardson, listed then at 20-years-old, was booked for the transfer of a firearm to a felon and larceny of an auto or aircraft.
KHP says blood was observed on the driver’s side steering wheel airbag, but Young was not located at the scene of the crash. The report says Cowley County Sheriff’s deputies contacted Young the next day and observed injuries on his head.
Deputies then contacted Parks, who is listed as the lead investigator of the accident. Parks joined deputies at Young’s residence at 1:19 a.m. on Feb. 19 and he also observed injuries, including a large bandage on the left side of his forehead that blood could be seen seeping through the bandage.
Parks said Young was arrested by Winfield police and held in Cowley County until he was transferred to Wichita. At the time of the accident, Young was on house arrest, Parks said, via pending court matters in Sedgwick County.
Morris was found pinned in the car by the passenger side that was crushed inward toward the driver’s side. He was not wearing a seatbelt and hydraulic jaws were used to free Morris. Winfield Fire/EMS attempted life-saving measures. Morris was transported by ambulance to William Newton Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
While waiting on a tow truck, Parks reported information was received regarding a possible suspected driver. He left the crash scene and went to that location.
KHP’s report says the investigation is ongoing and will be forwarded to the Cowley County Attorney’s Office for review.
Cowley County Attorney Larry Schwartz told Cowley Post Wednesday morning his office has yet to receive further information from KHP. Parks said Schwartz office should expect more information within the coming weeks.
In 2009, Young was arrested in Winfield for a domestic incident on three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of criminal damage to property, hit and run, driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, disorderly conduct and reckless driving.
According to the newspaper at the time, Young allegedly drove his 1997 Chevy Blazer within two feet of the front door of a house. Not long after he proceeded to hit another house and a parked car before fleeing.
The assault charges were considered “aggravated,” since Young implied he was going to use a vehicle as a weapon against the victims, Brett Stone, who was the interim chief of the Winfield Police Department, told the paper.
In 2018, Young was one of three people arrested regarding a burglary case that involved several stolen guns, among other items.
According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Young has been in and out of several correctional facilities since 2009. He was discharged from KDOC in June 2022.
