(JACKSON, Ohio) — An 18-year-old from Jackson County has been committed to a juvenile correctional facility until age 21 for a crash last year that killed an off-duty Wellston police officer and injured another, Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson announced today.
A Jackson County Juvenile Court judge issued the order Thursday, which also permanently suspends the defendant’s driver’s license.
“This tragedy, like so many others, could have been prevented had the teen made the right choice to drive sober,” Wilson said. “My heartfelt condolences go out to Officer Matthew Juniper’s family and his colleagues at the Wellston Police Department.”
The defendant, who has since moved to Athens County, pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to a second-degree felony count of aggravated vehicular homicide and a third-degree felony count of aggravated vehicular assault.
At about 2 a.m. on Aug. 30, 2025, a 2014 Hyundai Accent driven by the defendant, then 17 years old and intoxicated, rear-ended a golf cart traveling southbound on South Pennsylvania Avenue near Sixth Street in Wellston. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which investigated the crash, the impact forced the golf cart to veer off the left side of the road and hit a tree. The Hyundai came to rest in the roadway.
Tragically, a passenger in the golf cart, Wellston resident Matthew Juniper, 25, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. Juniper was a four-year veteran of the Wellston Police Department and had previously served as a deputy with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. The driver of the golf cart, Wellston resident Brant Derrow, 40, also a Wellston police officer, was seriously injured.
The Special Prosecutions Section of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127
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