Wife of man charged in deadly road rage attack arrested

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    O’FALLON, Mo. (KMOV) — The wife of a Troy, Missouri man charged in a deadly road rage encounter in St. Charles County Sunday has been arrested.

Charging documents state Joshua O’Keefe, 39, punched 68-year-old Ron Lawson along the shoulder of the interstate multiple times, before putting Lawson back into his vehicle and driving away. O’Keefe was charged with second-degree murder.

After police put out his photo and announced he was sought in the deadly altercation, O’Keefe walked into the Troop C headquarters in St. Charles County around 4 p.m. Wednesday and surrendered to police.

A day after O’Keefe’s surrender, News 4 learned his wife had been arrested. She was reportedly in the truck with him at the time of the incident and was taken into custody on suspicion of being an accessory to murder. Charges were pending against her Thursday morning.

What happened along the interstate?

Around 11:30 a.m on Sunday, police responded to a call about a fight along I-64 just west of Route K. Investigators said the driver of a 2019 or 2020 dark colored Dodge Ram diesel truck with a white car trailer stopped behind Lawson’s dark blue Ford F150 on the side of the road.

Investigators believe both men got out of their trucks and walked toward each other. Then law enforcement believes O’Keefe punched Lawson in the face and then at least one more time before putting the man back inside his Ford F150 and driving off. Missouri Highway Patrol believes O’Keefe exited the interstate and drove south on Highway DD.

Investigators are trying to piece together what led up to the fight, but the victim’s son believes road rage might have been a factor.

Identifying O’Keefe

A witness contact Missouri Highway Patrol saying they captured the truck involved in the attack on their dash camera. Missouri Highway Patrol was able to get screenshots and distributed them to the public hoping to identify the driver or truck.

O’Keefe’s employer reached out to Missouri Highway Patrol saying they recognized the white trailer the man was pulling with his truck. The employers said the trailer was now parked at his home and that O’Keefe sometimes took it without permission. The employer also said that O’Keefe had called in sick to work Monday which was unusual. However, his co-workers did describe O’Keefe has “having a temper,” the probable cause statement says.

Another person reached out to Missouri Highway Patrol saying they recognized O’Keefe as a person who came to her Chesterfield home to test drive some golf carts for sale. The woman told law enforcement that O’Keefe mentioned he was going to look at another golf cart in Wentzville.

Troopers went to O’Keefe’s home in Troy to speak to him but he wasn’t home. Law enforcement said they found his wife driving the 2019 Ram pickup truck. She said she didn’t know where her husband was and wouldn’t answer questions without a lawyer.

O’Keefe “has a criminal history with several assaults,” the probable cause statement reads. According to court records, O’Keefe has been sentenced to serve jail/prison time on various charges of assault, resisting arrest and DWI.

He is out on probation for an assault charge in Wentzville. The mugshot from 2007 is from a robbery charge in St. Charles City where he was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Who is Ron Lawson?

Lawson was a father and grandfather and served as a volunteer firefighter for Winfield Fire Protection Service.

“This was just a senseless act that never should have happened,” said his son Jason Lawson. “I want answers, I want some kind of answers. If this person is a man, he’ll come forward and he will be brought to justice so my father can have justice.”

Lawson said his father was unconscious when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He died of blunt force trauma to the head.

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