Carthage man sentenced to life in prison (plus more) for murder, DWI, meth trafficking

A Carthage man was sentenced to life in prison Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court for the drunk driving crash at 7th and Duquesne that took the life of former Missouri Southern State University professor Robert McDermid.

Judge Dean Dankelson sentenced Kenton C. Cowgill, 38, to a life sentence for second degree murder, 15 years for driving while intoxicated, seven years for resisting arrest and 15 years for meth trafficking with the sentences to run consecutively.

A Jasper County jury found Cowgill guilty in June following a two-day trial.

At the time of the crash, Cowgill was free on $10,000 bond on a felony charge of delivery of a controlled substance after being arrested May 27, 2021, by the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team.

The DWI arrest was the third in less than four years for Cowgill. The Joplin Police Department arrested him November 18, 2017. Cowgill pleaded guilty September 11, 2018 in Newton County Circuit Court and was sentenced to three months in jail, then given a suspended sentence and placed on two years probation.

The Jasper County Sheriff's Office arrested Cowgill on the same charge four days earlier, on November 14, 2017. He pleaded guilty September 17, 2019 in Jasper County Circuit Court, was sentenced to six months in jail, given a suspended sentenced and placed on probation for one year.

On December 15, 2003, Cowgill pleaded guilty in Joplin Municipal Court to driving under the influence.

Cowgill's lengthy criminal history also includes a 2014 conviction for unlawful use of a weapon after he hit his wife in the face, aimed a rifle at his father-in-law and in a struggle with him over the weapon, accidentally shot two children, a four-year-old and a two-year-old.

Cowgill was originally charged with three counts of domestic assault and armed criminal action, but under a plea bargain agreement with the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office pleaded guilty to the weapons charge and was sentenced to four years in prison. The sentence was suspended and Cowgill was placed on supervised probation for five years.

A Joplin Police Department news release describes the events that led to the fatality crash at 7th and Duquesne:

On July 3, 2021 at 8:23 am the Joplin Police Department received a report of a male driver passed out in a vehicle that was blocking a driveway in the 800 block of South Rex Avenue.

Officers responded and located the vehicle and observed the driver was not conscious. Officers were able to wake the driver and found that he was showing signs of being intoxicated. 

While officers were conducting their investigation, the driver fled in the vehicle from officers going northbound on Rex Avenue.

While Joplin officers were attempting to catch up to the driver, a Duquesne Police Department officer was nearby and observed the vehicle fleeing and initiated a pursuit that went eastbound on 7th Street.

Shortly thereafter, Joplin Officers were notified the suspect vehicle was involved in a crash with two other vehicles at the intersection of 7th Street and Duquesne Road.