A Dodge City man has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of driving left of center for the April 8, 2012 deaths of 67-year-old Fred Ruda and his mother-in-law, 90-year-old Eleanor T. Sexson

Ruda and Sexson, both of Hays, were killed in a car accident seven miles west of Dodge City.

Braulio De La Cruz-Gonzalez, 19, was eastbound on U.S. Highway 56 when his  Yukon crossed the center line and struck a westbound Buick Lucerne driven by Ruda, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Ruda’s wife, 63-year-old Sherrill Ruda of Hays, suffered disabling injuries.

De La Cruz-Gonzalez and his passenger, 16-year-old Alejandro Penagos , Dodge City, were also injured.

De La Cruz-Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 25 at 10:30 a.m.

Fred Ruda was a longtime Fort Hays State University professor and chairman of the Technology Studies Department.  He and his family were en route to Montezuma to spend Easter Sunday at the home of another family member.