JACKSON, Ohio — A Jackson County teenager has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide following a crash last year that killed an off-duty Wellston police officer and injured another, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
A 17-year-old male was charged with four felonies and two misdemeanors in Jackson County Juvenile Court in connection with the Aug. 30, 2025, crash.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash, a 2014 Hyundai Accent allegedly driven by the intoxicated teenager rear-ended a golf cart traveling southbound on South Pennsylvania Avenue near the intersection of Sixth Street in Jackson around 2 a.m.
The golf cart traveled off the left side of the road and struck a tree. The Hyundai came to rest in the roadway.
One of the golf cart’s passengers, Matthew Juniper, 25, of Wellston, sustained fatal injuries from the crash. Juniper was a four-year veteran of the Wellston Police Department and previously served as a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
The driver of the golf cart, Brant Derrow, 40, also a Wellston police officer, was seriously injured in the crash.
The teenager is charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of aggravated vehicular assault, one count of vehicular assault, and two counts of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Section is prosecuting the case.