UPDATE: 3:15 p.m. Monday – Kyndal Orange made his first appearance in a Cowley County courtroom Monday in Winfield.
His bond was set at $50,000 and Judge Nick St. Peter has appointed Winfield attorney Jennifer Passiglia to represent Orange. He was ordered not to make contact with friends or family of crash victim Tionna Bruno, should he make bond.
The defendant is due back in court March 16 so that a date for a preliminary hearing can be set.
Orange is accused of second degree murder for unintentionally but recklessly causing the death of Bruno. She was killed in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 77 north of Strother Field early Saturday morning.
Authorities said evidence and witness testimony indicated the crash did not meet the standards to be considered an accident. Investigators believe Orange was driving a Ford Explorer when he swerved and left the roadway.
He has been formally charged with a count each of second-degree murder, violation of a protective order, driving without a license and driving under the influence.
Orange told the court he had lived in Ponca City for about 18 months before recently moving to Cowley County.
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Kyndal G. Orange – a man believed to be the driver of a vehicle that swerved off the road near Strother Field early Saturday – has been arrested on a second degree murder charge in connection with the crash that killed Tionna Rachelle Bruno of Ark City.
Witness interviews and evidence – including information from an investigation conducted by the Kansas Highway Patrol – led to the conclusion that the wreck did not meet the criteria of a motor vehicle accident, Cowley County undersheriff Bill Mueller said.
Mueller had said in an early interview that the vehicle’s driver had swerved suddenly, left the roadway and flipped several times.
Orange, 23, was being interviewed by investigators on Saturday when he was placed under arrest. He is being held without bond until formal charges are filed.
Orange is expected to faces charges that include second-degree murder, violation of a protective order and no driver’s license.
Mueller confirmed that Orange and Bruno had been in an on-again, off-again, “girlfriend-boyfriend” relationship for some time. They had been out together late Friday and early Saturday, prior to the crash.
Bruno also had been using a phone to talk with others just before the crash, Mueller confirmed. The undersheriff would not discuss what the calls may have pertained to, because it is evidence in the case.
The couple were in a 2005 Ford Exlplorer Sport Track when the crash happened. Bruno died at the scene. Tests have been conducted to determine if alcohol played a factor in the incident.
To qualify as an accident, Mueller said, a crash must be deemed unintentional and, or an unstabilized event, meaning the driver did not act on purpose to cause the crash and was affected by circumstances beyond human control.
Orange was treated and released for injuries he sustained in the crash. Neither occupant of the vehicle was wearing a seat belt.
