By Ilana Arougheti
The Kansas City Star
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — An Independence man was sentenced to seven years in prison Monday for driving drunk and causing a head-on crash that killed an Independence firefighter in 2022.
Dominic Conway, 42, pleaded guilty earlier Monday to involuntary manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in the crash that led to the death of Harold “Gene” Eddins. A Jackson County judge imposed the maximum possible penalties for both charges; Conway’s six-month sentence for the second charge will run concurrently to his seven-year sentence for the first.
The crash took place on Missouri Route 291 in Sugar Creek on Oct. 14, 2022, according to court documents. Eddins, an Independence firefighter who was off-duty at the time, was driving northbound on the divided, four-lane road. Conway was driving the wrong way in the same lane and hit Eddins head-on, according to court documents.
Sugar Creek police responded to the crash, and Eddins was pronounced dead at the scene, according to court documents.
Conway was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, with a blood alcohol level of .490, according to court documents. The legal blood alcohol limit in Missouri is .008.
Eddins, who grew up in Wyandotte County and lived with his family in Liberty, worked in public safety for more than 30 years before his death, according to an obituary shared online. He joined the Independence Fire Department in October 2010 as a firefighter and paramedic. He was promoted to equipment operator in 2020 and also served as a fire inspector.
Eddins’ widow Stephanie and their daughters Madison and Taylor filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Conway and Ford Motor Company in May 2023, according to court records. The family settled with Conway and Ford out of court for an undisclosed sum of money in June 2024.
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