Motorist Arraigned in Death of Washburn Art Department Head

A Chanute man has been arraigned in the traffic death of the head of the Washburn University art department who was struck and killed while riding her bike.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that not guilty pleas were entered Monday on behalf of 38-year-old Todd M. Kidwell in Crawford County District Court. Kidwell is charged with reckless second-degree murder and misdemeanor counts of reckless driving and improper passing of a bicyclist.

Sixty-year-old Glenda Taylor was participating in an amateur time trial when she was hit in June 2015.

The defense argued at the preliminary hearing that the crash happened while Kidwell was trying to avoid a head-on collision with another pickup. A pickup truck passenger testified previously that Kidwell wasn’t driving erratically before the crash.