Ex-wife of injured man arrested, charged with armed criminal action

Cape Girardeau Police Department detectives have arrested the ex-wife of a man who was found last week with life-threatening injuries.

Cynthia Perry, 45, of Frohna, Missouri, was taken into custody Wednesday, Nov. 29. She was charged with second-degree domestic assault and felony armed criminal action.

On Saturday, Nov. 25, officers and medical personnel responded to the 300 block of North Spring Avenue in Cape Girardeau after friends found John David Perry with serious wounds. He had been attending a benefit event with his ex-wife.

John David Perry was transported to a local hospital for treatment and was later transferred to a St. Louis hospital. Through the course of their investigation, detectives learned he had suffered injuries consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

According to a probable-cause statement, Cynthia Perry said she had gotten into an altercation with her ex-husband in the parking lot and that he had punched her. She said she backed out of the space she was in while he was trying to get into the vehicle.

The probable-cause statement said she admitted to feeling a bump when she was leaving and saw him lying on the ground with no one else around. It also said she had consumed three beers before attending the benefit and a cocktail at the event.

Surveillance footage viewed by investigators showed the Perrys and another individual approaching an SUV, then Cynthia Perry and the other person entering the SUV while her ex-husband put on his jacket outside.

The vehicle was driven out of camera view, then John David Perry walked toward it, also out of camera view. The probable-cause statement said, “Twice the headlights moved abruptly up and down as if the vehicle ran over something, as it drove back into camera view.”

Investigators found there were no speed bumps or obstacles to cause the SUV to bounce that way in the parking lot.

After the incident, according to the probable-cause statement, Cynthia Perry drove to a bar in Frohna where she told someone “I don’t know, I think I might have run (her ex-husband) over.” Afterward, the statement said she drove to Kansas City, Missouri, because she said she got “lost.”

Cynthia Perry is being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond.