KANSAS CITY—Prosecutors secured a guilty plea in the fatal wrong-way crash that occurred on 291 Highway near Sugar Creek, Missouri in 2022, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson/.
Dominic Conway, 42, pleaded guilty to Driving While Intoxicated and Involuntary Manslaughter in the 1st Degree. The defendant was also sentenced to the maximum sentence for the DWI charge—six months, and seven years on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The counts are running concurrently with one another.
According to court records, Sugar Creek police were called to the scene of a head-on crash on Missouri 291 Highway on Oct. 14, 2022.
The victim. Independence, Mo. firefighter Harold "Gene" Eddins, Jr., was driving home after finishing his shift at the fire department when the crash occurred. He died at the scene of the crash.
The investigation determined Eddins was driving northbound on the highway when he encountered Conway's vehicle, which was driving the wrong-way on the divided, four-lane roadway. The two vehicles struck head-on. The defendant was impaired at the time of the crash, and his blood alcohol content was at least .490 when the crash occurred.