There are bad nights in Topeka.
And then there are nights where someone is lying dead in the street while the person who hit them allegedly just… keeps going.
According to the Topeka Police Department, officers responded around 10:08 p.m. Monday to the intersection of Southwest 6th Avenue and Southwest Horne Street after reports of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
When they arrived, the victim was already dead.
Police say the driver didn’t stop.
Later, 38-year-old Elizabeth Ashley Neal of Topeka was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections.
The charges listed in the booking report are about as serious as it gets:
- Vehicular homicide
- Failure to stop at an accident resulting in death
- Interference with a law enforcement officer
- Driving while license suspended
And if you read that list carefully, one detail jumps out.
She allegedly shouldn’t have been driving in the first place.
The Part That Hits Hard
Here’s the thing about hit-and-runs that makes people in this town furious.
Accidents happen.
Bad ones. Tragic ones. Sometimes unavoidable ones.
But when someone gets out of their car and tries to help?
When they stay?
When they call 911?
That’s one story.
Driving away while someone is dying in the road is another entirely.
A Familiar Stretch of Road
The crash happened along Southwest 6th, one of the busiest corridors in the city. Anyone who’s lived in Topeka for more than about five minutes has driven that stretch.
Fast traffic.
Nighttime glare.
Pedestrians trying to cross.
It’s not a forgiving place for mistakes.
And when someone doesn’t stop after a crash there, it turns a tragedy into something that feels a lot more like abandonment.
The Investigation Continues
Police say the investigation is still ongoing, and the identity of the victim has not yet been released.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Topeka Police Department Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400 or submit an anonymous tip through Shawnee County Crime Stoppers.
Mack’s Take
You don’t need a law degree to understand the basic rule of the road:
If you hit someone — you stop.
You stop if it’s minor.
You stop if it’s bad.
You stop even if you’re scared.
Because once you drive away from someone who might still be alive in the street, the story stops being about a crash.
And starts being about a choice.
And those are the ones that keep people up at night.
