Dodging DWIs: Newton Keene

BY JOE MAHR, JEREMY KOHLER • jkohler@post-dispatch.com
AND BRIAN WILLIAMSON • bwilliamson@post-dispatch.com | Posted: Monday, October 12, 2009 1:22 pm

The public service ads tout the basic theme: You drink. You drive. You lose. But that’s often not the case in metro St. Louis. Lenient plea deals, secrecy laws and outright mistakes have allowed most DWI offenders — including many chronic offenders — to avoid serious punishment — in a system-wide breakdown that has claimed lives in Missouri and Illinois. Explore this map and timeline of Newton Keene's arrests and convictions.

Early on Feb. 5, Tawanda Jackson, her friend Jon Moss, her son, Arnold "Jay" Jackson, 9, and daughter, Takia Jackson, 11, were driving from Tennessee to St. Louis to attend her grandmother's funeral. Police say Keene crashed into their car, killing Tawanda and Arnold Jackson and Jon Moss.

Watch a video of family members of the victims, talk about the night of the crash and Keene's repeated DWI convictions.

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Posted in Local, State-and-regional, News, Multimedia on Monday, October 12, 2009 1:22 pm Updated: 10:15 pm. | Tags: Dwi, Newton Keene, Joe Mahr, Jeremy Kohler, Brian Williamson, Dodging Dwis