26 October 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The victim of a car crash Tuesday has been identified as Billy Wineinger. His daughter-in-law, Rebecca Wineinger, says their family was heartbroken by the news.
Rebecca says the 71-year-old was an Air Force veteran who retired at the rank of Major. He spent more years working for the government.
Billy was married and living with his wife and daughter. He had two children, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
His family was at their respective homes Tuesday when they heard about the crash. Rebecca says her family is still in shock.
“We’re upset that such a senseless action could take away someone so important to all of us. I want everybody to remember his kind laugh and his loving smile, and just the way he loved to tease his grandkids and kids and even his wife. And just how much love he had for all of us. He was one of the most kind and caring fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers there ever was. He was the kind of guy if he saw someone needing help, he would do whatever he needed to do to help them,” said Rebecca.
The woman who police say hit Wineinger at the intersection of 13th and Greenwich is accused of driving under the influence of alcohol. She was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter. KSN is not naming her until charges are formally filed.
Police say when officers arrived on the scene Tuesday, the stop lights at the intersection were not working.
KSN reached out to the City of Wichita and Evergy regarding the outage, but neither was able to do an interview. However, an Evergy spokesperson said damp weather caused a switch to fail, turning the busy intersection dark. That switch was fixed overnight.