Elizabeth McKeown’s legal team in Springfield, Missouri, thinks cough syrup might be a winning defense to beat a first-degree murder charge. McKeown is accused of running over a stranger, Barbara Foster, with her car in November 2018. “I made her think that I was going to be nice and be still and everything. She got to looking at the car. I backed up and I slammed into her, cut her in half,” McKeown allegedly told police at the time. But the defense’s medical expert said the cough syrup in McKeown’s system could have led her to run the woman over. “It would be a side effect to the medication,” the expert testified. “Typically people just don’t get the euphoria. In addition to the euphoria they get the impaired judgment, confusion, and memory problems.” Meanwhile, prosecutors have argued that her addiction issues flared her anger. A verdict in the case could be reached later this week.
