Robert Mulkey, 54, of Crystal City has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after a St. Louis County jury found him guilty of a lesser charge for shooting and killing a High Ridge man during a road-rage incident in November 2023 in Fenton, court records show.
Mulkey was originally charged in December 2023 with first-degree murder, a class A felony, and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony, for shooting and killing Benjamin Merritt, 34, on Hwy. 141 near Gravois Bluffs Boulevard, according to court documents.
A St. Louis County jury on Feb. 26 found Mulkey guilty of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, a class C felony, and armed criminal action. The jury recommended the minimum sentence of three years in prison and the $10,000 fine, and St. Louis County Judge Thomas C. Albus handed down the three-year sentence for the armed criminal action charge and the fine for the involuntary manslaughter charge, court records said.
St. Louis County assistant prosecuting attorney Kiersten H. Heiman prosecuted the case.
A about 8:10 a.m. Nov. 10, 2023, St. Louis County Police got a call to respond to Hwy. 141 near Gravois Bluffs Boulevard in Fenton. When officers arrived, multiple vehicles were on the side of the road, and Merritt was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, police reported.
Merritt was taken to an area hospital, where he died, the report said.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, Merritt and Mulkey were involved in a road-rage incident near the Gravois Bluffs shopping center, and after stopping, Merritt got out of his vehicle and approached Mulkey, who was still inside his vehicle. Merritt reportedly flicked a cigarette in Mulkey’s face, and then Mulkey shot Merritt in the back while he was walking back to his vehicle.