Teen pleads guilty in crash that killed woman crossing east Wichita street last summer

A teen charged with killing a 26-year-old woman with his car in east Wichita in 2021 pleaded guilty last week to misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident and one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident, Sedgwick County District Court records show.

An affidavit released by the court says Bricetin M. Wedel, 19, of Wichita caused wrecks while speeding along Kellogg in his 2011 Hyundai Sonata then got off the highway when another driver followed him for failing to stop. As he fled, Wedel hit Lynny Marie Poell around 9:20 p.m. on June 5, 2021, while she was crossing the street near Douglas and Greenwood, causing injuries that she died from six days later. She was out with friends when she was fatally injured, the affidavit says.

It isn’t clear exactly from court records why Wedel, a recent high-school graduate who was a part of a transitional living program for teens run by the local children’s home, was speeding that night. One person interviewed by police suggested Wedel might have gotten caught up in a race on Kellogg, crashed into other vehicles and fled in fear before striking Poell.

What is clear is that he didn’t stay at either crash site. The affidavit says in the aftermath of the hit-and-run collisions, he went home and to work and talked to friends, family and others before he turned himself into Wichita police the next afternoon.

Authorities found the car, a recent graduation gift from family, empty and stripped of its license plate in the back parking lot of a hotel near 37th and Rock Road, the affidavit says.

Poell, whose obituary says she was a preschool teacher, suffered extensive injuries including brain damage that wasn’t survivable. A cousin told The Eagle after her death that she also worked as a nanny for acquaintances, babysat her young niece and nephew and loved “soulful music” and calligraphy. She died on June 11, 2021.

Wedel is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 1 by District Judge David Dahl. He could receive a jail sentence or probation, but the latter is likely since attorneys plan to urge the judge to hand down that punishment, according to his plea agreement.

The agreement says prosecutors think Wedel’s “age, family hardships, and other unique circumstances warrant at least one opportunity at probation and community intervention before a prison disposition is considered or imposed.” If Wedel is granted probation, they will ask that he serve a 60-day jail sanction, the document says.