Woman accused of running over stranger in Springfield admitted to drug use, warrants say

Police say the woman who ran over a stranger last month in an apparent road-rage killing admitted afterward to being on drugs.

Elizabeth McKeown, 46, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 57-year-old Barbara Foster on Nov. 20 in Springfield.

Search warrant documents describe McKeown's demeanor after the crash.

Warrants to draw McKeown's blood and search her Ford Mustang say that she blew a .000 in a Breathalyzer test but showed several indicators of impairment during field sobriety tests.

McKeown allegedly told police she had taken "heroin, molly, jane and tai" prior to the crash.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse says molly is the crystalline powder form of the hallucinogenic drug MDMA. "Jane" is possibly a reference to marijuana, and the News-Leader was unable to determine what drug "tai" might reference.

The Springfield Police Department has not publicly said whether McKeown really was under the influence of any of those drugs at the time of the crash. A spokesperson said Tuesday investigators are still waiting on blood test results.

Voluntary drug consumption is not a defense for murder in Missouri.

More:Who is Elizabeth McKeown, suspect in Springfield vehicular homicide?

A homicide detective wrote in one of the warrant applications that McKeown did not seem intoxicated in an interview after the crash, "though some of her answers to questions did not make sense."

It was after the crash that McKeown allegedly made flippant statements about the homicide.

McKeown allegedly told police she got upset sitting in afternoon rush-hour traffic behind Foster's vehicle on Nov. 20 on Campbell Avenue near University Street because she was in a rush to get to the bank to make her car payment.

A probable cause statement says McKeown told police that when Foster "wouldn't go," she started nudging Foster's car and then "decided to hit it full out."

After the impact, the statement says Foster got out of her car to assess the damage, and McKeown hit Foster with her Ford Mustang.

McKeown allegedly told police she "tricked" Foster into thinking she would be still and then she "slammed into her and cut her in half."

Prosecutors say the victim was dragged 58 feet under McKeown's car.

More:Who is Barbara Foster, the victim of vehicular homicide?

The News-Leader obtained documents that show McKeown has a history of drug problems.

Documents say she was fired in 2006 and had her Arkansas nursing license suspended when she was twice caught stealing Nubain, a prescription painkiller, from St. Edward's Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith.

When pressed by administrators, documents say McKeown admitted to using the Nubain.

McKeown is being held in the Greene County Jail without bond and has pleaded not guilty in this case.

McKeown's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More:Springfield woman charged with first-degree murder after fatal hit-and-run