Former Tabor fullback charged in 2022 fatality
Staff writer
A former Tabor College fullback who drove a car that crashed Feb. 27, 2022, in a fiery wreck on Indigo Rd. south of Hillsboro was charged Monday with two counts of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
According to a complaint, Jonathan M. Medina, then 19, was driving under the influence at the time of the wreck, which killed fellow football players Johnathon J. Aviles and Christopher J. Castillo.
Monday’s filing was the second involuntary manslaughter case filed against Medina. Former county attorney Joel Ensey filed an involuntary manslaughter case against him a year ago, but erroneously filed it as a traffic case instead of a criminal case and, as a result, the case did not attract attention.
Kansas Highway Patrol said at the time of the wreck that Medina was driving a 2001 Toyota 4Runner when it went off Indigo Rd. at a correction jog south of Hillsboro, overturned against an embankment, and burst into flames.
Castillo, 22, of Tustin, California, and Aviles, 23, of Paso Robles, California, died at the scene.
The patrol said none of the three were wearing seat belts.
Medina was taken by Hillsboro ambulance to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
Tabor’s football roster listed Castillo as a 5-foot-10, 225-pound linebacker who transferred to Tabor from Orange Coast College.
The roster also listed him as a junior in terms of athletic eligibility with a hometown as San Juan Capistrano, California.
Aviles was listed as a 5-foot-10, 230-pound running back who transferred from Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California.
Johnson County court records show Jonathan Medina was sued there in July, 2023, by Lasandra Aviles over an automobile accident. That case remains pending.