No new trial for meth-addled drunk driver who killed MSSU professor

The Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals rejected the appeal of Kenton Cowgill, 40, formerly of Carthage, the drunk driver who killed former Missouri Southern State University professor Robert McDermid in a collision at 7th and Duquesne in 2021.

Judge Dean Dankelson sentenced Cowgill to life in prison 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.

The details of the case were laid out in the opinion:

The charges against Defendant arose from the following events on the morning of July 3, 2021. Police received a call that an individual (later identified as Defendant) was “slumped over” in a motor vehicle, which was parked but had its lights on. 

Officer Mackenzie Roach (“Officer Roach”) and Officer Brian Wenberg (“Officer Wenberg”) responded to the call. Officer Roach parked his patrol vehicle behind Defendant’s vehicle with his emergency lights illuminated and woke up Defendant by knocking on the vehicle’s window. 

Officer Wenberg, suspecting Officer Roach might need assistance, parked his patrol vehicle further ahead. Officer Roach believed that Defendant was intoxicated and asked for identification, which Defendant provided. 

Officer Roach walked back to his patrol vehicle to check Defendant’s driving status and discovered that it was revoked. As Officer Roach then started to walk back to Defendant’s vehicle, Defendant fled in his vehicle at a high rate of speed. 

Both Officer Roach and Officer Wenberg immediately pursued Defendant. The chase ended when Defendant entered an intersection and crashed into a vehicle operated by Robert McDermid (“Victim”), who tragically lost his life as a result. 

By the time the officers arrived on the scene, Defendant had exited his vehicle and was on the ground near the vehicle’s rear passenger wheel. Defendant was arrested and, later, when his vehicle was being towed, police discovered a bag containing eighty-six grams of methamphetamine. Defendant also tested positive for methamphetamine.

The appellate panel rejected the claims of Cowgill's attorney that Dankelson should have been disqualfied and removed from the case, that he should have been allowed to present evidence at McDermid ran a red light before the accident and that no evidence was presented that Cowgill was high on meth at the time of the accident.