A woman who took her five children on a high speed chase with law enforcement after disposing of her neighbor’s body has been convicted of multiple felonies, including involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of her children.
According to a press release from the Missouri Attorney General’s office, Danisha R. Price, 32, of Doniphan was convicted in January of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence, abandonment of a corpse, resisting arrest and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, all relating to the death of Bruce Ehrenberg Sr., who was Price’s next-door neighbor.
Price originally was charged with first-degree murder in Ehrenberg’s July 2018 death, but ultimately was convicted on the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter.
The case was tried by Assistant Attorneys General Kelly Snyder and George Lankford.
“Our office has the necessary resources ready to deploy across the state to assist in obtaining justice for victims, and we stand ready and willing to assist any prosecutor throughout the state who needs us,” Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in the release. “I commend the work of the dedicated law enforcement officers and assistant attorneys general in this difficult and complex case.”
Evidence presented at Price’s trial showed she caused the death of Ehrenberg in 2018 by physical force, then dumped his body in a remote location in the Mark Twain National Forest, according to the AG’s office.
After this, Price was pulled over by officers from the Doniphan Police Department for a traffic stop. When it became clear the officers intended to arrest Price, she fled and led them on a high-speed chase.
During the chase, Price’s five children, who were between the ages of three and nine years old at that time, were not properly restrained in the vehicle. Price eventually crashed her car, abandoned the vehicle, attempted to light it on fire, and forced her five children to flee into the nearby woods on foot, where they endured two nights without shelter, food or clean water.
With the help of local authorities, the Missouri State Highway Patrol found and arrested Price. Afterward, they conducted an investigation which led them July 20, 2018, to the decomposing body of Ehrenberg, and also found his blood in Price’s vehicle.
The case was prosecuted in Stoddard County after Price requested a change of venue.
Price faces up to seven years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter conviction and four years each on the child endangerment charges. A sentencing date has not been announced.
The case was investigated by the Doniphan Police Department, the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.