BEATRICE – The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating a fatality accident in which it appears a passenger deliberately opened the door of a moving vehicle and jumped out.

The incident happened Friday night at about 8:17 p.m. in Brown County, Kansas, on U.S. Highway 73.

The KHP says a 2019 Dodge Journey driven by 24-year-old Azaria Richery of Stockton, Kansas was southbound on the highway when a passenger intentionally opened the front passenger side door and leaped from the vehicle while it was moving. 

The highway patrol identified the man who suffered a fatal injury as 33-year-old Kylee Dixon, of Horton, Kansas.  The driver was not injured. 

Authorities did not detail how fast the vehicle was moving at the time of the incident, nor provide any information on why the victim had opened the passenger door.

The incident on U.S. Highway 73 happened less than a mile south of Hiawatha.