Woman charged with road-rage killing had troubled past

(AP) A Springfield woman who is charged with ramming into a woman and cutting her “in half” in a case of road rage previously worked as a nurse in Arkansas before her license was suspended for stealing prescription painkillers.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 46-year-old Elizabeth McKeown is jailed without bond on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 57-year-old Barbara Foster. No attorney is listed for her in online court records.

Court records say she told police that she “tricked” Foster and then “slammed into her” last week. Prosecutors say McKeown then dragged Foster 58 feet before getting into another crash.

An Arkansas board says McKeown’s nursing license was suspended in 2006 after she was twice caught stealing the prescription painkiller Nubain.