Andrew Slack, Topeka motorist charged in fatality wreck, to face preliminary hearing this month

Andrew Wayne Slack, who is charged with the death of his stepbrother during a two-vehicle wreck in early 2015, will face a preliminary hearing on Oct. 20, according to Shawnee County District Court records.

Slack, 20, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Trenton A. Brooks, 17, a felony, and reckless driving and failure to obey a traffic device, which are misdemeanors.

The wreck occurred at S.W. 61st and Auburn Road on Feb. 10, 2015, and the charges were filed on Oct. 13, 2015.

Slack was booked into Shawnee County Jail on Oct. 6 of this year.

Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones on Thursday said the reason for the delay was that Slack wasn't living in Kansas.

Slack was arrested in Polk County, Fla., Jones said. Polk County is between Orlando on the northeast and Tampa on the west.

On Thursday, Slack remained in Shawnee County Jail in lieu of a $15,000 cash or surety bond, a jail official said.

In September, a wrongful death civil lawsuit tied to the fatality wreck was settled in district court in favor of Jennifer Slack, the plaintiff, according to court records.

The lawsuit, in which Andrew Slack was the defendant, was filed in Shawnee County District Court.

Jennifer Slack is the mother of Andrew Slack and Brooks.

The lawsuit is a personal injury claim based on alleged negligence resulting in the wrongful death of Brooks, the journal entry approving the wrongful death settlement said.

The heirs of Brooks are Jennifer Slack and his father, George James Brooks III, who wasn't awarded any money. Jennifer Slack and defendants Andrew Slack and an insurance company negotiated a "compromise and settlement," the court record said.

Of the $100,000 paid, Jennifer Slack received $55,579, the mother's attorneys received fees and expenses totaling $25,697, and medical expenses totaled $18,724, the court record said.

Trenton Brooks was a senior at Washburn Rural High School when he died. A spokesman for Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437 said Brooks was thought to be en route to home when the crash occurred.

Shawnee County sheriff's officials said at the time that Brooks was a passenger in a Ford Mustang driven by Slack that was traveling at a high rate of speed and was passing other vehicles when it failed to stop at a stop signal.

Authorities said the Mustang and a Chevrolet Impala driven by Mary Rickel, 61, collided. Rickel was taken to a hospital by American Medical Response ambulance with injuries that weren't considered life-threatening.

Slack suffered injuries that were considered life-threatening and was taken to The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., for treatment.

Credit: Steve Fry [email protected]