Missouri Woman Blames Cough Syrup For Brutal Road Rage Killing

A Missouri woman has been found guilty of murder after she brutally ran a woman over with her car, according to Springfield News-Leader. She failed to convince jurors that she suffered from cough-syrup induced psychosis during the incident.

On November 20, 2018, 50-year-old Elizabeth McKeown was on the way to the bank to make a car payment when she rear-ended 57-year-old Barbara Foster on Campbell Avenue. McKeown believed Foster wasn't driving fast enough. When Foster got out of her vehicle and called 911 to report the crash, McKeown backed up, ran Foster over and dragged her under the vehicle. When McKeown attempted to drive away from the scene, she was blocked off at the next intersection by drivers who witnessed the incident.

McKeown's attorney argued that she was not criminally responsible for the murder because she had experienced psychosis induced by cough syrup that her body couldn't metabolize properly. The prosecutor argued against this theory.

“(McKeown's) purpose was to kill Ms. Foster,” Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Dane Rennier said. “Her plan was to cut Ms. Foster in half.”

In the end, the jury sided with the prosecution and McKeown was found guilty of first-degree murder. Her attorney, Jon Van Arkel, said he plans to ask for a new trial. If the motion is denied, sentencing will take place in September. First-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.