SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Republic man is charged with 12 felonies relating to a DWI crash that killed three people on the James River Freeway in Springfield in January.

Steven Allen Jordan, 66, of Republic, was charged with:

  • Three counts of second-degree murder.
  • Three counts of DWI resulting in the death of another.
  • One count of habitual DWI.
  • Two counts of DWI resulting in serious injury.
  • Three counts of DWI resulting in injury.
Steven Jordan mugshot
Steven Jordan mugshot

On Jan. 20, 2023, a Ford Expedition containing eight people was traveling from Texas to St. Robert, Missouri. The van was full of family members of Kimsha Rosensteel, owner of the Honey Chile’ Please restaurant in St. Robert. Rosensteel’s mother was killed in a crash that also sent her father and sister to the hospital two days before. Her family were on their way to help her.

Around 1 a.m., the SUV was involved in a head-on collision on James River Freeway near the West Bypass area in Springfield. Three passengers were killed and others were sent to the hospital to be treated for serious injuries.

According to court documents obtained by OzarksFirst, a white Dodge pickup driven by Jordan had collided with the Expedition while it was driving the wrong way on the highway, which is divided by a median. He smelled “strongly of intoxicants and an open, empty beer bottle was in the driver floorboard of the pickup he was operating.”

Jordan admitted to law enforcement that he had been drinking. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries. A deputy acquired a search warrant to take a sample of Jordan’s blood for analysis. Court documents say the blood tested positive for alcohol and drugs, and Jordan’s blood alcohol concentration was .211%. The legal limit in Missouri is .08%.

“I would wish this on no one,” Rosensteel said. “No one deserves this type of pain; you don’t deserve it at all. It was just unfortunate”

“To me, it should have been something that was done sooner than six and a half months,” said Rosensteel. “This man enjoyed his holidays his freedom, and we have been miserable, Mother’s Day birthdays, Father’s Day, it’s been miserable for us.” 

Rosensteel said she’s pleased with the charges but knows there is still a long way to go. 

“It’s helpful, but it’s still at a devasting point,” Rosensteel said. “You can be charged, but to actually be convicted and suffer you know the consequences of your actions that’s still what I wait on.” 

We reached out to the Greene County Prosecuting office to ask about the delay in filing charges, but we have not received a response at this time.  

According to the documents, Jordan has four prior DWI convictions from 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1981.