74-year-old driver to stand trial for murder in death of Johnson County teen hit by car
A 74-year-old Overland Park man will stand trial in the death of a teen hit by a car as she was walking home from a Johnson County school four years ago, a spokeswoman for the Johnson County District Attorney’s office said.
At a preliminary hearing this week where prosecutors presented evidence, Johnson County Judge Thomas M. Sutherland bound Sudhir S. Gandhi over for trial and set a scheduling conference for June 23, said Melody Webb, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
Gandhi, who is out on $50,000 bond, is facing one count of reckless second-degree murder stemming from the April 12, 2019, wreck that killed Alexandra “Alex” Rumple. The crash happened blocks from Oxford Middle School, just after students were let out for the day.
Rumple was taken to a hospital where she died from the injuries on April 14, 2019. That night, hundreds of middle-schoolers and parents gathered for a vigil at the middle school’s football field.
At the time of the wreck, Gandhi was headed north on Switzer Road near 127th Street when he drove up onto the east sidewalk. Witnesses told police he was traveling at highway speeds.
In an interview with police, Gandhi said he believe he had pressed on the brake pedal, but the car continued to accelerate, according to court documents. Not knowing what to do, he decided to steer the car onto the sidewalk to avoid vehicles stopped in the road.
He was not able to stop the car after that, he told police. He continued north, nearly hitting three children at the 124th Street intersection. He struck Rumple near the 123rd Street intersection, according to a police report.
The force of the crash vaulted Rumple onto the hood of the car and she hit her head on the windshield before she was thrown off into the left lane of northbound Switzer.
Gandhi continued north and knocked a traffic light off its base and slammed into a wooden fence, destroying 80 feet of it before coming to a stop in the right lane of Switzer near 121st Street. From the first time the car left the road to when it stopped, Gandhi had traveled almost half a mile, according to court records.
A vehicle inspector found no issues with the car’s brakes, steering, suspension or engine throttle control systems, according to court records.
