Charges Filed in Gentry County Fatality Accident

GENTRY COUNTY, MO – A Clarksdale man has been charged in a single-vehicle fatality crash that occurred last month in Gentry County.

In a statement issued by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, it is alleged that 38-year-old Nicholas Ryan Merrigan was operating a vehicle in an impaired condition in the early morning hours on US Highway 169, 2 miles south of Stanberry.

The accident report indicates that Merrigan failed to negotiate a curve and ran off the roadway where the vehicle struck a utility pole and became airborne. The vehicle overturned and came to rest off the roadway. Forty-four-year-old King City resident Michael Perman was killed in the crash.

It is alleged by the investigating officer that Merrigan was taken to Mosaic Life Care in St Joseph where he tested positive for alcohol.

Merrigan is charged with driving while intoxicated, resulting in the death of another. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.