Deweese sentenced to four months in jail for deadly I-229 wrong way crash
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A St. Joseph woman will spend four months of shock time in the Buchanan County Jail beginning Thursday for a wrong-way crash that killed a 33-year-old motorcyclist on Interstate 229 last May.
Circuit Judge Dan Kellogg issued a suspended imposition of sentence, and 120 days of shock detention in the Buchanan County Jail for Katherine Deweese during a sentencing hearing Thursday, April 24 at the Buchanan County Courthouse. Deweese was found guilty of second degree involuntary manslaughter in March for the death of motorcyclist Ryan Coffman last May.
Deweese is forbidden from drinking or going to bars, must submit to regular drug and alcohol testing and must operate a motor vehicle with an alcohol ignition interlock device during probation. Deweese will be required to perform 250 hours of community service and must cover court costs.
Chandra Roberts, Coffman’s sister, said the family does intend to pursue civil litigation against Deweese.
“We’re not done,” she said outside the courthouse.
Deweese had plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the first degree, but admitted during an emotional one-day trial that she accidentally drove the wrong-way up the I-229 6A exit ramp that leads Downtown to Edmond and South Third streets because she didn’t see the signs, crashing head on with Coffman midway up the ramp just before 5 a.m. on May 17, 2024.
Coffman, who was heading Downtown for a volunteer shift at Sunshine Electric Display, suffered life-threatening injuries as a result of being ejected from his motorcycle and was later pronounced dead as a result of blunt force trauma.
Prosecutors had sought a maximum sentence of four years in prison for the charge, arguing during the trial she knowingly and recklessly drove through multiple “Do Not Enter” signs while being distracted by a heated dispute with boyfriend and passenger Eric Richey. Despite a probable cause statement from police saying Deweese admitted to being in the argument, the defense later claimed the argument never occurred.
A preliminary breath test administered on Deweese at the scene indicated a presence of alcohol below the legal limit, leading police to request a blood draw at the Law Enforcement Center. The subsequent test showed Deweese’s alcohol level was well below the limit at 0.010%, however, the test was administered three hours after the crash occurred as she initially refused a blood draw, forcing police to request a search warrant.
During the trial it was revealed that Deweese had two prior DUI’s more than 20 years ago, one in 1998 and another in 2001 prior to her nursing career.
During the on-scene investigation, St. Joseph Police Officers located a drink container in one of the vehicle’s front seat cup holders that had a small amount of clear liquid at the bottom. Multiple officers testified the container had a faint smell of alcohol coming from it but despite that, it was revealed the liquid was never tested for verification.
Richey and Deweese both took the stand during the trial. The two each testified that they had been drinking the night before while staying at Deweese’s apartment on North Third Street, just four blocks from the site of the crash. Deweese, a registered nurse for 13 years, has lived Downtown for approximately three years and denied drinking the morning of the crash.
Richey testified that he had consumed a vodka-juice cocktail on the morning of the crash due to his anxiousness with flying. Deweese was driving that morning to drop Richey off at the airport for his son’s birthday.
Deweese was never arrested or issued a citation by St. Joseph Police, she was later charged on Aug. 20, three months after the crash occurred.
Deweese testified that she did not enter the ramp westbound from Edmond Street — a claim the prosecution disputed — but rather from North Third Street — saying that she did not see multiple red “Do Not Enter†signs that face east and west as a result. However, the those same signs include additional “One Way†markers that are stacked on top in the other direction to warn those drivers traveling north and southbound.
A lack of video evidence from any surrounding businesses or eyewitnesses limited the state’s ability to dispute that claim. The crash occurred just before 5 a.m. when visibility was notably reduced.
After weighing all the evidence Kellogg opted not to find her guilty of the more severe charge in the first degree, finding that Deweese was criminally negligent but that the actions were not a substantial and unjustifiable risk of causing death in this case. Deweese was not speeding and she was below the legal limit of alcohol, two factors that are often key in manslaughter cases.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, family members were visibly emotional as Coffman’s sister Chandra Roberts and her daughter Kayden — who shares a birth with Ryan — provided statements describing the type of person Ryan was, what he meant to their family and the devastation his death has caused them over the last 11 months.
“I wish he could be here to see me and my brother at prom this weekend, or watch my brother graduate next month and me next year. We deserve to have more time with him,” Kayden said. “The only thing that kept me sane through all of this is knowing that he died doing what he loved.”
A visibly emotional Deweese, a mother of two, also took the stand to apologize to Coffman’s family for the pain she’s caused over the last 11 months.
